Three on Thursday - The Circle of Life

1. One of our two cats, Scout, went missing Saturday night.  Sam, the keeper and feeder of the cats, was very sad and, if I'm being honest here, so was I.  Like would probably be too strong of an emotion, but I was fond of Scout.  Between her and her sister, Jem, Scout is much more curious and bold which makes her more...interesting.  Plus, she's quite a pretty Siamese looking feline.  

Country life can be rough, however, and our cats are almost feral.  They never come inside and are very skittish around humans.  So, when she was gone, she was gone.  We didn't put up posters.  We didn't look at the humane society.  Jay and I figured that a bigger, meaner animal had gotten her.

I have no idea where she was or what she was doing (I have a hunch she was up to no good) but she showed up again this morning.  From the looks of things, she's no worse for the wear, though she was much sleepier than usual.  Mostly, I'm happy for Jem, who was lost without her sister, and Sam, who is thrilled to have his charge back (and happy to stop thinking about a dead cat carcass out there.  We never shielded Sam from our theories and I think Scout's happy ending brought a little of the innocence back).

2.  I got a funny call today.  One of the ladies I visit teach called me to explain that her ex-husband was at my father-in-law's house and noticed that one of the heifers was struggling to deliver her calf.   She said he could pull it but needed an extra set of hands (mine?????)  Perhaps it was due to the unusual source, but I wasn't quite sure what to do with that information.  My in-laws are gone from their ranch several days a week to fulfill their Temple presidency duties, so I called Jay to ask him what, if anything, I should do.

He was as confused as I was about who was out there and why but he asked if I wouldn't mind driving over to see if it was one of the heifers in the corral or an older cow out in the field.  Upon my arrival at the scene, I introduced myself to the ex-husband, who happens to know my in-laws well enough to call him "Doc" and sell him jerky, and their faithful fencer.  He said he had already pulled one calf but this other mama cow was really distressed and the legs of the calf were coming out wrong and....I'm not sure what else.  I called Jay back with my new information and I could tell he was busy or in the middle of something because he told me, "I'll take care of it.  You can go home."  What?

I didn't know if that meant he was coming or if I should tell these men to go home or what, so the three of us just stood outside the corral, watching the cow alternate between lying down and try to push (with nothing happening) and standing up and the calf's little hoofs disappearing back inside its mother.   After about a half hour, one of them called me "boss" and it became clear that they were awaiting my instructions.  I explained to them how far down the chain of command I was and that I had no authority to make any sort of birthing decision.  Thankfully, at this point, my sister-in-law, Patty, drove up after receiving a call from her husband, Jay's brother, Vaughn.  Patty was on the phone with Vaughn, who had been called by Jay.  Patty handed her phone over to the ex-husband and between the two, a plan was made to help the mama cow out.

It involved moving the cow to the chute, where the ex-husband could pull the calf out.  My job was to push the lever to close the chute once the cow's neck got through it.  Even though I knew I didn't have to handle a birth sack, or pull anything out of anywhere, I was still nervous.  However, the mama cow did all sorts of evasive maneuvering and the ex-husband ended up just kind of cornering her in the alleyway to the chute and pulling the calf out there.  Amazingly,  the little calf was alive (and really cute!).  I'm so glad the ex-husband called his ex-wife, who I visit teach, who called me, who called Jay, who called Vaughn, who called Patty so that neither calf nor mother died.  

3.  Jay and I went skiing on Monday, while my van was being fixed (battery had cracked and the acid had corroded off the battery cable), and it was so deliciously sunny and warm.  Unfortunately, I got a sunburn on my chin.  That's right, the rest of my face was shielded from the sun's harmful UV rays via goggles, helmet and coat, but my chinburn turned a bright red.  Today, new skin must be forming or something, because when a dribble of my oil and vinegar dressing dripped on my chin during lunch today, it stung!  It has continued to sting, in spite of my application of moisturizer.   Come on, new epidural cells!  Momma needs a new chin!