Jul. 19, 2003 ~ Moo
Followed by, "Moooooooo, mooooooooo, moooo!" That's what we heard, starting about 4:00 this morning. Husband had planned to take calves to the auction today, but his boss called last night and begged him to work instead. Someone else is on call, but there is a very unhappy customer, and Mr. Boss thinks Husband is the one who can solve the problem and soothe the upset. So he took the calves to auction last night, where they will be housed and fed until today's sale. During the night, the three mothers' udders probably started hurting, and the cows cried out for their babies. They are mooing still. This "moosic" lasts for several days, gradually declining till it stops completely. Thankfully, we don't have neighbors nearby, or they would have a hard time sleeping, too.
Cows moo for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes they're bored, sometimes they're hungry, and sometimes they're just saying hello. Some moos mean, "Come here!" when they want their calves with them. Other times, we're clueless as to the meaning of the moos. But they do moo a lot when their babies are weaned. Judging by their swollen udders, they are in pain.
Summer has finally arrived in Texas. It's hot. The heat is to be expected, but every year, we all seem to notice it as if for the first time. It's been warm for awhile now, and we've had some days where the temperature was 100 or close to it, but it's now officially, well and truly hot. The grass looks dry and crispy. Business as usual, at long last. We had rains, earlier, and those were nice, but it looks like we're in for a dry spell.
Some of the barn cats are missing. Of course, they may be thinking that some of their people are missing. I always wonder about that. They come and go, and maybe we just don't cross paths. But Squeak is my favorite barn kitty, and we haven't seen him for awhile. Smoke is also missing in action. He's been gone for a long time, seems like, so he may be gone for good. With coyotes and bobcats and who knows what else always near, life is a challenge for barn cats. I hope they're okay, though. We don't actually go out and get barn cats, don't wake up and think, "Gee, I think we need a few more kitties; let's go get some." They just show up here, usually pregnant. Sometimes they are friendly, but often they aren't. So we have all these "strays" who just live here and eat our food. They sleep in the barn or lounge on the porches, but hiss at us as if we're the enemy. Ungrateful wretches! Still. They're cute, and I can't argue with cute.
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