#TBT: Extreme Lifestyle, v.2.0

This was first posted October 30, 2009.

Today was a day of extremes…First thing in the morning I was on horseback riding to the top of our Mesa pasture…The eastern sky was socked in…A depressing cloudbank of snow and wind…

The western sky held the promise of sunshine and warmth…The mountains across the Basin were glaringly white in the light that would never come our way…

I had worn a lighter coat knowing the predicted high of 45 would be nice…However, since the sun never appeared…It felt more like 25! My hands were the only thing warm… I decided I need a Wool/Thinsulate Coverall! My warm hat was in the pocket of my other coat… Thank goodness for my pirate bandana I tied over my head and ears… Three head acted like antelope…running as soon as they’d spot me… I could catch up while I was out of sight under a hill…then they’d spy me…and take off on the run again. Johnny saved me finally…after making a loop around the top of the pasture! Our cows are NOT like that… Makes me wonder…. They’ve spied ANOTHER black wolf up here…could they have been chased by him?

As soon as we gathered at the bottom gate… Vernon spotted 3 we had missed a mile back and across a canyon. Johnny went to help…and I waited…and chilled down…and waited…and chilled down some more. I soon had to get off Panama and walk around to get some blood circulating…If I had known they were going to be gone that long I would have built a fire… They came back and…we were on our way! This is such an easy drive… It’s only a couple of miles…. They’ve been there every year of their lives…. We’re headed HOME! Sure enough… The last hundred missed the gate and were spread out EVERYWHERE…. My chill soon turned to sweat as Panama, Dally, and I had to work HARD to get them back UP the fence…. It doesn’t make sense to a cow whose instincts tell her HOME is DOWN the fence…. They were correct…but needed to be on the other side of it! AAAARGH! But perseverance (FIVE times they turned back on me… FIVE!) and some colorful metaphors later, we made it through the gate and again were back on track. The rest of the drive went quite well. And I want to say to the world…DALLY WAS MARVELOUS TODAY! She’s no sheep dog, no clinic dog…but if I had had my video camera today…. You would have seen a dog taking directions…. Laying on a nip low and quiet…. Returning to me to jog at my side until another cow got “out of line”. She was awesome! No one to witness it but me!