So I'm doing night check yesterday evening. Rarely is there anything happening on night check. There was that lamb with meningitis a while back, but since then there's been nothing besides fixing a couple fences and feeding the often forgotten barn cat.

Anyhow, I go to check the cows. They are halter-tied into stalls right now for some stupid experiment. Stupid in that I don't think the cows enjoy being tied up all day. But Animal Care says that it's fine. There is one cow that never figured out how to get water from her dish. All she has to do is press her nose on the lever, but she was the special one of the 8 that couldn't do it. I go to fill up her bucket with the hose and discover that she's tangled and stuck. I release the clip on her halter and attempt to walk her back to her proper bed.

This should have been an easy task, but there are grates behind each stall for manure removal. She did not like walking across this (hence the invention of the Cattle Guard) and decided to do a little kick-buck and run off down the aisle.

I spend a while trying to pull her back to her stall, luring her with barley, molasses, and hay. I then take the agressive approach and use a broom to prod her along. Unsurprisingly, neither method worked.

Derek and Thomas are outside putting the final touches on the new chicken-condo (it has a sliding window and has two levels!). I apporach, "Hey I have a question. How did they get the experiment cows into those stalls in the first place?"

They eventually come to help me out. Derek's wife,their two-year old, and Thomas' wife watch us deal with the cow. They must have been snickering to themselves as it turned out to be a hilarious situation:

Derek grabs the cows ears and digs his heels into the ground. Thomas, who has a broken leg, is using his cane to keep the cow in one place and prevent it from kicking. I've got a new halter in my hand, one arm around the neck of the cow, struggling to pull it up over her nose. Thomas is urging "All the way! Go all the way!" He's referring to doing the halter up on the last notch, but there's another context that makes me laugh. Or maybe that's just me.

So that was that.

After, I started chatting with Thomas, and we wandered back towards my suite. He hadn't seen it yet, so I showed him. He noted my guitar and flute, and that led to conversations about music, and now I think I've got myself hooked up with some informal guitar lessons from his wife.

*~*~*

Snippets of ICQ conversations:

Swordfern: do you have anything else to talk about but drinking/clubbing/girls/gambling/nookie?

Chris: my nose is itchy...

Kevin: it was actually something you said that triggered this outlook: "things can only get better from here, right?" ... and i just sat back and admired your optimism and relaxed attitude. i don't want to be known in life just for my career accomplishments - and i'm sure i could do a lot more for people if i was truly happy, y'know?

Swordfern: and i think that IF you are happy, you will be successful in whatever you are doing. however innocent that viewpoint may be.

Kevin: i like your innocence :)

Kevin: and i like your voice :) very sweet-sounding

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I just spent the last hour colouring with the two-year old. Her fish look nothing like my fish, let me tell you. But she sure likes my stuffed animals - especially the lobster when I make it attack and tickle her. She brings out a maternal side in me. One day, in the very distant future...