Things worth believing in

Before I get started, I've got to give an update on our ill-fated canoe excursion in which we swamped the vessel in alligator infested waters and marinated both my phone and camera in the chocolate water.  On the bright side, none of the occupants of the Garfish were mauled by hungry alligators.  On the not so bright side, after making a valiant effort in trying to save them, both the phone and camera were finally listed as fatalities last night as we pronounced them dead at 6:34 pm.  They will be remembered fondly and will be sorely missed.

A friend gave me some very helpful advice in the area of seamanship that I'll incorporate into our next voyage: "Nose into the wave."  He also gave me instructions on how to right a sunken canoe even when you can't touch bottom.  We'll have to practice that although Tricia has asked that we practice this maneuver  in waters not inhabited by ravenous reptiles.

On to today's musings.  We don't watch a lot of TV at our house.  If it is not college football season, I don't have much patience for sitting in front of the TV.  We try to control as much of the junk coming into our home as possible.  We did, however, watch a good deal of the Olympics coverage.  It was inspirational to see the competition and people rising above tough circumstances.  Did you see the Olympian run that had both legs amputated?  What a story!

It was good to see that hard work, persistence, dedication, sweat and tears paid off for people.  It was good to see sportsmanship displayed for the most part even amidst fierce competition.  I noted that there were winners on the podium for whom the medals and National Anthems evoked strong emotional responses.  There were also people who did not receive medals.  People received medals according to the outcome.  Everyone did not receive a participation award.  I saw people interviewed who did not medal who were not bitter and were not about to give up.  In fact, they vowed to work harder and win in four years.  Good life lesson there of perseverence and tenacity. 

Russ shows our dairy cows in livestock shows and we're always so proud of him.  He works hard with his animals and is responsible in their care.  This Spring he won more hardware than Michael Phelps.  He's looking forward to the Spring shows of 2013 as they'll be his last shows.



Russ wins Reserve Champion (silver medal) at District Show with Rosie

 Another shot:



  Instead of watching TV shows, most of the times when we do sit down we watch movies that Tricia buys in the $5 bin.  Secondhand Lions is one of them - starring Robert Duvall and Michael Caine.  Have you seen that show?  We just watched that one again.  One of the memorable quotes is when Hub looks the boy in the eyes and says:

"Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things a man needs to believe in the most.  That people are basically good; that honor, courage, and virtue mean everything; that power and money, money and power mean nothing; that good always triumphs over evil; and I want you to remember this, that love... true love never dies.  You remember that, boy.  Doesn't matter if it's true or not.  You see, a man should believe in those things because those are the things worth believing in."

I like that quote.  I'm a simple man.  I'm a bit old fashioned admittedly.  I like the old ways.  I call them the five F's: Faith, Family, Friends, Food, Fun.  The Good Life!  I don't claim to have all the answers to the troubles that plague us, but I know Someone who does. 

Speaking of simple pleasures, here's Rosie having a drink of cool water after evening milking. Nothing like some fresh water after a long, hot day.  That holds true for man or beast.  I like the way the photo captured the drop of water in the water trough.  Shortly after taking this, Benjamin called me to take a closer look.  It seemed a frog must have laid some eggs in the trough as there were a bunch of inch long tadpoles swimming around in there.  Benjamin said it must be about a hundred of them.  Didn't seem to bother Rosie any.  Someone once told us not to bother a mama cow when she's drinking water - it's their sacred time.



Looks like she's saying, "Please let me drink in peace."  You notice she's got a couple of ribs showing?  This used to bother me, but she's actually in good condition.  Dairy cows direct all their energy toward the production of milk and beef cattle direct all their energy to the production of, well... beef.  We'll respect her sacred time. 



Yesterday afternoon I set the mower on its highest setting and mowed just the seed heads off the top of the grass on about a half acre piece of pasture.  I want to get the grass to shift its energy toward producing leaves instead of seeds.  Hopefully we'll catch a rain to jump start things.  The cows appreciate the fresh, tender growth.

This afternoon we put Daisy and her little bull Stryker together.  Stryker will be a year old in a little over a month.  We separated them to wean Stryker and also so that Daisy would adopt Blackberry.  I think they were happy to see each other again.



Reunited and it feels so good...



Talk to you again tomorrow...