Being an opportunist as I am, I’m always on the lookout for bargains, beneficial shortcuts and ways to make my work easier. The latter of course should be the priority of all of us. For many of us it is as simple as having the neighbor kid mow the lawn or maybe having a hired hand.
Having a hired hand however, can sometimes be a challenge of its own. The very words hired man sends quivers up my spine. Kind of like when you hear someone say “Here comes the Boss’s kid.” Just take mine for instance. “Sparky” the name has been changed however to protect the innocent. Sparky has some strong points like loyalty, easy going and a steady worker. Sometimes he’s so steady you can hardly see him moving. His favorite pastime is watching the grass grow and observing the moths circling around the porch light. This however changed one June day this summer.
We were out checking the cows and heading up the Bull Branch toward the river bluffs. All of a sudden I spotted a Black Angus cow with a young calf that hadn’t been tagged yet. We were just a short distance behind her in the S10 pickup and she was just about to go through the gate that divided the pastures. Being an opportunist the bright light bulb thing came on in my head kind of like the Ford commercial, or is it Ford tough, or build like a Rock? What ever! We were in a truck anyway. I hit the brakes and shut off the switch and told Sparky to grab the tagger. As soon as the cow went through the gate I swung the gate shut, hooked the chain and grabbed the calf behind the protection of the fence.
About forty steps from the fence old Ma Ma Cow noticed that Junior wasn’t behind her. I had my back to the cow and I was about to tag the calf when Sparky casually replies, ‘Here comes the cow’. I turn around to face a run away locomotive boring down straight at us with only four sagging wires between us. Sparky was the first to react as he sprang into action and ran for the truck. That was the fastest I ever seen him move as he left his shadow standing there by itself. Not wanting to be a part of a train wreck, I followed Sparky’s lead and my shadow over shot the truck after I dived through the window. After regaining our composure, I thought there will be another opportunity another day. So we just sat there trying to decide who was going to get back out of the truck to reopen the gate.
Big Valley Longhorn Ranch 