Sept. 21, 2002 ~ The windows are open
and the AC has been off since yesterday. It's 72 degrees outside, on a sunny, almost-autumn day. Birds are happily singing, the cats are drooling at the thought of eating the birds, and College Boy is sleeping in this morning. Well, apparently I woke him once, because I am so NOISY, but I was trying to be quiet, honest. New neighbors moved in this week, and I was baking a cake for them. Not wanting to wake the boy up, I even mixed the cake by hand. But his room is right next to the kitchen, and I guess it just doesn't take much to wake him. I mean, I was even careful to be quiet when taking my vitamins out of their bottles! Still, he rose like a grumpy bear, hibernation interrupted -- shame, shame on me. For all his sensitivity to the slightest of kitchen noises, he is oblivious to outdoor sounds. A loud knock on the front door won't wake him, nor will the bellowing of a distressed cow. Honking horns... that sound doesn't get through.
I woke up about 6:45, late for me, but it IS a Saturday. After opening the front door to let the cool breeze in, I decided to feed the porch cats. One coffee can of food to both front and back porch, and that should have been it. Ahh, but Sunshine, one of the barn cats, saw me in the yard, and asked for his breakfast, too. Fine, no problem. Should I bother to dress? Nah, the cats wouldn't care. I was in my usual early morning cat-feeding ensemble, rubber boots and a nightgown. Socks would have been a nice touch, but I only thought I was going to feed the porch cats. So I went back to the house for the barn cats' food, and of course the horses saw me and asked for THEIR breakfast, too. And then the cows decided that MAYBE, possibly, just perhaps... they might want to go into the hay meadow for the day. But Suzy and Brownie Jo saw me standing there, and I swear I could hear them (I speak fluent cow, don't you know) talking.
"Get a load of that outfit Mom's wearing!"
"Snort! Hey, are we poor? That gown is awfully ragged."
"Aren't humans supposed to wear some sort of undergarments?"
"Well, yes, I thought so. Mom must be getting pretty chilly."
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Yeah! Let's stand around and moo for awhile, and not go through the gate!"
"Whoo, boy! Let's tell the others..."
And so it went. MOST of them came to the gate, EVENTUALLY, but four of them decided to go back into the woods, mostly so I would have to clomp around in the woods in my dork boots and ratty gown. I could hear our Neighbor driving his four-wheeler in the woods nearby, and wondered if he was having a good laugh at my expense.
An hour later, everyone was fed and watered and in their proper places for the day.
And what did I learn from this? Well, in theory, that I should at least put on a housecoat, if I'm not going to take the time to dress. And socks!
But honestly? I'll probably wear the same thing tomorrow, and the cows will giggle in their own bovine way.
Some people never learn.
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