# Country living is a blessing



## Hayjosh (Mar 24, 2016)

Tonight at 11 pm, I heard banging on the porch door. My first thought was 'do I go grab my rifle or do I answer the door?' I saw a set of headlights in the driveway so I just opted to go to the door and yelled through the door 'hello?'

--"Josh, it's Mike [last name redacted] ' was the reply.

Mike is a hay farmer who lives about 5 miles up the road from me, I bought my baler from him a few years ago, he's stopped by to help me with it or my haybine several times over the years and is just a guy you'd do anything for because he'd do the same for you. Mike also knew the baler had some bad plunger bearings when he sold it to me and didn't let me take it until he replaced them first. He's that kind of guy.

But there can't be *any* good reason Mike is pounding on my door at 11 pm so I throw the door open. I was worried he needed help.

He proceeds to tell me his wife just drove by on her way to work and saw horses out by the road, thought they might be mine, and called Mike to have him let me know. Except he didn't do the city thing and call me, he did the country thing and drove over here at 11 o'clock at night and pounded on my door, because he knew I needed to know and was probably going to need help.

'DAMMIT!' I said. I knew they were my horses and knew exactly what I did. I was moving the baler from the shop to its shed tonight, went through a gate and wasn't in a big hurry to close it at the time since horses were out at pasture and a storm was rolling in so I was hurrying around getting things buttoned down...and guess who forgot about the gate?! So on a night with a severe thunderstorm they thought it would be a good idea to walk through my open gate.

Pseudo-panic set in because my dad just had a heart attack and is scheduled for a quintuple bypass surgery this Friday, and Rosemary and I were going to head out tomorrow AM (Thursday) for Iowa, and I didn't want to miss that because my horses ran away because their stupid owner left the gate open.

I grab a flashlight, halter, grain, and a phone and jump in his truck and we head south down the road, my wife jumps in the truck and goes the other way. Fortunately she immediately finds them at our next door neighbor's yard to the north. So we walk right up to them and put on their halters and walk them back next door. Thank God they're good horses.

Everything was done and over in 13 minutes, no big deal. But it was no big deal because it was country folk taking care of country folk, farmer looking after 'farmer.'

Walking back to the house I was feeling so blessed to be part of the farming and country community where people know you and watch out for you, where they jump in their truck and drive to your house instead of just call you because they know you're going to need the help. And I'd do (and have done) the same for anybody. I wouldn't trade it for anything and I wouldn't have it any other way.


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## Aaroncboo (Sep 21, 2014)

I wish I had that here... My cows get out and the cops show up to tell me then proceed to sit in the squad and watch. The one time a cop helped he pushed a calf through the fence and the calf grounded out on the electric and tazed the cop. I laughed so hard... I think the calf was laughing... Cop wasn't....


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## Hayjosh (Mar 24, 2016)

Aaroncboo said:


> I wish I had that here... My cows get out and the cops show up to tell me then proceed to sit in the squad and watch. The one time a cop helped he pushed a calf through the fence and the calf grounded out on the electric and tazed the cop. I laughed so hard... I think the calf was laughing... Cop wasn't....


When I worked at the horse barn on the campus of Iowa State University, I got to the barn about 7 am after getting in from one of the cow farms and you'd think somebody was murdered there. Cop cars everywhere and I saw a lot of blood on the ground.

One of the stallions broke out of his pen, went and got in a fight across the fence with another stallion, lost interest there, then ran over to a pen of mares and decided to liberate them. That pen of mares decided to go to the mall or something because they headed straight for the street and joined the traffic. The police were losing their minds as they didn't know what to do, so they went and did whatever we told them and blocked traffic while we wrangled the horses back. One police truck took off down the road with a bale of hay in the back as if they thought they were going to lure them back. LOL Good luck with that. I laughed when I saw them heading out.

Another time I was heading out to go to a movie with a friend in the middle of winter, and saw a car slid off the road and drove right through the fence of one of our pastures with horses in it. That kind of stops all your plans right there.

Come to think of it, I've got a lot of good stories from the ISU horsebarn. Like the time I busted an old guy molesting one of the mares!


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Speaking of cellphones, city people and country people.

Years ago had the main lawn mown then did the ditches.

Just got done and parked the ZTR in the barn, wasn't dark yet but was getting there fast, then seen a North Liberty police car cruising down the road real slow with his spot light on. Huh, strange.

Then a state police car, a county and a ambulance all driving up and down the road real slow. Huh, real strange.

After about five minutes of this I walked down to the road and talked to the NL cop, seems somebody had phoned in a motorcycle in the ditch. Huh, okay.

Then it struck me, one headlight is out on the ZTR, I laughed then told the NL cop most likely what he was looking for was me and the ZTR was parked in the barn. Course they still had to search a bit more to make sure.

Turns out a city slicker most likely was cruising down the road, seen me mowing, grabbed his cell phone and mistakingly reported me as a motorcycle wrecked in the ditch. I, my wife, my father, or any of my friends or neighbors that grew up out here would have stopped to see if they could help if we thought it was a wrecked bike.

Have come to the day and age when calling something in is close enough to actually being a decent human being I guess.


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

mlappin said:


> Speaking of cellphones, city people and country people.


I have had them (cellphone caring city something's) call animal control about a cow calving. Problem with that is when the animal control officer is so smart about the birthing process to even call me then I have to explain that cows have been giving birth without help for a long, long time. (Normally it's a she ACO), and she says well aren't you going to go help her anyways? :angry:

Larry


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

r82230 said:


> I have had them (cellphone caring city something's) call animal control about a cow calving. Problem with that is when the animal control officer is so smart about the birthing process to even call me then I have to explain that cows have been giving birth without help for a long, long time. (Normally it's a she ACO), and she says well aren't you going to go help her anyways? :angry:
> 
> Larry


Have had that as well.

Also can't hardly burn fencerows out here anymore, even after calling it in to dispatch somebody still calls a fire in on their cell phone. Dispatch half the time just can't wrap their heads around the fact that our address covers an area a half mile deep and 3/4 of a mile along the highway.

Really stupid part is, if dispatch sends the local fire department out, they have to put the fire out. Can even show em my cell phone with the dispatch number in the recent calls.


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## BWfarms (Aug 3, 2015)

I get asked all the time, "What time do you get up to milk the cows?" I kindly say I have beef cattle, no way will I ever dairy. Then I'm asked, "Don't you still have to get up early to feed them?" I probably have one of those my brain hurts look on my face when I reply, "Nope, I usually get up when I want... 8...9...10 o'clock." "That's not very nice to let your cows go hungry," as there is obviously lush pastures or hay available.



r82230 said:


> I have had them (cellphone caring city something's) call animal control about a cow calving. Problem with that is when the animal control officer is so smart about the birthing process to even call me then I have to explain that cows have been giving birth without help for a long, long time. (Normally it's a she ACO), and she says well aren't you going to go help her anyways? :angry:
> 
> Larry


Many humans are used to a plethora of assistances when their babies are entering the world. When we were expecting our firstborn, the nurses would say things like Pap smears make men uncomfortable (really I don't feel a thing), the birthing process is a gory sight you may want to make plans to stand at head of the bed, etc. Then we were instructed of emergency procedures. I said, "No problem." This was apparently an invitation of the nurse to tell me that big strong men faint at the sight. "No, ma'am I've delivered plenty of babies." She asked if I was an EMT or something and I said, "Nope, I'm a rancher. I have put my arms up a cow's vagina pulling a breeched calf." She looked horrified.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

BWfarms said:


> "No, ma'am I've delivered plenty of babies." She asked if I was an EMT or something and I said, "Nope, I'm a rancher. I have put my arms up a cow's vagina pulling a breeched calf." She looked horrified.


Haha, yah, Last birth we had along the road, a nose and one front leg.


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