Elsa bunny hunting.
When we get used to anything, it becomes an instant frustration when it doesn’t work the way it was designed. You turn the faucet, the water should come out. You flip the switch the light should come on. You start the tractor the diesel engine should growl right along. This morning it didn’t. So I sat on the metal tongue of the hay trailer and waited. Vernon comes over, says he thinks it is the fuel filter, and he has to go get another one out of the other shop. So I wait. The chill begins to seep through and I have to move! Elsa is “Dog of the Day” and we head to the haystack to look for mice and bunnies. To deter the fiendish deer from eating all of our hay, Vernon has stacked some old straw bales around the good hay. It has worked well, the deer refusing to jump the 6 feet up to the top of the straw to relish the green hay. As we work our way around, I begin to wonder. Elsa is athletic. Hmmm… Before you know it, we find a shorter bale and she’s up! We circle the stack, Elsa walking above me, seeking the treats I reward her with at each request that she follows. No hesitation. Dang. This girl could be an agility dog! I think I need to delve into this more…Elsa and I could use the time together. We wait. Aha! He’s back. If nothing else, I am extremely mechanically impaired…but I can hand a wrench if that is what is asked of me! So we go to the shop and supervise. We help. We wait. We’re off! Down to the yearling steers and we begin to feed. Fifty yards in and the tractor stops and beeps at me. Huh? I pop it back into F and go a bit more. The infernal blue machine stops 20 yards farther on and beeps at me. OK. I’m outta there! VERNON!!!!! We switch places and I pitch hay while he gets in to play with levers and listen to the engine. We start. It stops. We start. It stops. We head to the house and Vernon calls The Tractor Guys. Hey, don’t laugh. Their business is called The Tractor Guys. I wait. OK. I’m sent for Johnny down at the other place and ask him to bring his tractor here to feed with. I return home and wait. I’m released finally because Lucas and I become a Therapy Dog Team on Tuesdays. We abandon ship. It took Vernon and Johnny until 1 pm to feed today. And Vernon continues to mechanic on one thing or another until 5:30. It is ready. Tomorrow, Vernon will climb in the blue tractor and turn the key and the diesel engine will growl along.
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