4 CowNots

When all the Dexter and Scottish Highland cattle I found were pushing $$$$ a head, I thought maybe I didn't want any ol' cows anyway and changed my Googling to goats, which I was delighted to find were grazing a little over an hour away and could be mine for $$ each; and on that satisfied note, I called it night.

Yesterday morning I told Charles there were pygmy CowNots nearby, so he bought lumber to build stock racks for his truck, and we were on the road after lunch. When one is making a trip into unknown territory, the quest for a map should not be made at the website visited by reversing those words, because this wasn't the first time said site sent us "right" instead of "left," and that little mapping faux pas added 20 minutes to our journey, as we motored around the plains looking for CowNots, which we did eventually find frolicking in beautiful pastures on the left side of the highway.

Since no babies were ready for new homes, we chose twin sisters born last September and named them Nellie and Nancy in honor of the Olsons. The CowNots owner graciously agreed to let us have a 3-year-old nanny and her month old kid, after we gave the (wide-eyed and) proper response to the question, "You're not going to eat them, are you?" We named the mama Florence, representative of her previous mailing address, and the baby is Elemeno, a tribute to our beloved son-in-law, who revealed during the courtship interviews that he'd like to name one of his children LMNO. He's such a good fit in our family...yet, a little insurance policy against future grandchildren with quirky names wasn't a bad move on our part, just in case he wasn't kidding. We'll have to buy a billy CowNot to block Krug the Destroyer.

We delivered our CowNots to the pasture surrounding the newer milking barn, and #4 son climbed into the bed of the truck with them to coax them toward the tailgate. Coaxing was getting him nowhere, so he grabbed Florence (who probably weighs more than he does) by the horns and inched her down the length of the bed, where Charles bear-hugged her, while #3 son scooped Elemeno into his arms, and they strode to the grasslands with their respective armloads.

In the meantime, Nellie and Nancy became very Olsonite, removed themselves from the truck, trotted through the cattle chutes, and leapt the wall to freedom. There ensued a 30-minute sitcom of '60s ilk, as 3 men -- led by Nellie and Nancy -- could be seen sprinting down the road, circling the house, through the woods, back across the yard, over the road, and into the ramshackle barn, where the naughty girls were finally cornered, captured, and lugged back to the CowNot pasture.

This morning we're off to the farm supply store for CowNot-tending necessities and treats. I, CarolineNot, strongly suspect there are fewer cappuccino-sippings and more pygmy CowNot chases looming large in my future.

Know ye not that they which run in a race run all,

but one receiveth the prize?

So run, that ye may obtain.

I Corinthians 9:24