<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I always feed cows with dad. I have to, \u2018cause he couldn\u2019t do it without me. He even said so. But today it\u2019s cold. It\u2019s not very fun. Smokey is having fun though. He likes to roll around in the snow, and chase the mice as soon as dad lifts up a bale, but then after he bites one he spits it out. He doesn\u2019t like how they taste. Mommy hates mice too. She doesn\u2019t bite them she stands on top of things. I chased my sister with a dead mouse in a trap. It was funny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve been trying to move this bale, but it\u2019s really big. I called Smokey to come get the mice but he won\u2019t come. He just stays next to dad. This bale must be heavier than the ones dad is lifting \u2018cause I can\u2019t get it to move. Finally I just try to roll it and push it over, but the stems are really pokey, and it hurts my hands. It\u2019s as pokey as dad\u2019s face. But then he shaves, and sometimes he let\u2019s me shave with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After moving more bales he looks over at me. \u2018Hey Little Buddy, are you getting cold?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018No.\u2019 I tell him. Only little kids get cold. But maybe if I sit in the pickup for a while it will make me strong enough to lift the bale. So I tell him: \u2018But maybe I should sit in the pickup so the hay leaves don\u2019t get in.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He gets down off the pickup and puts me in the front seat. Then he goes to the other side and starts the pickup and makes the warm air blow on me. Then he closes the door and pretty soon I can feel the pickup shake as the bales go thud and the hay leaves fly in from the back window. It\u2019s broken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wow, dad is really strong! When I\u2019m six I bet I can do that too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I bet dad will ask me to drive the pickup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As soon as we get to the field the cows come running \u2018cause they\u2019re really hungry. Then dad puts the pickup in four-wheel drive cause that makes it really tough and it goes slow. He tells me to drive towards a little tree way across the field. But the tree isn\u2019t really little, it\u2019s just far away. It gets bigger when you get closer. I don\u2019t even have to stop when a cow gets in front of the pickup \u2018cause dad says they\u2019ll move. Even the baby ones. Their mommies don\u2019t like Smokey. Dad says I can\u2019t get out of the pickup when we are out in the pasture \u2018cause they might think I\u2019m a dog and chase me and hurt me. Then dad opens the door and climbs up on top of the hay and it is really high! He doesn\u2019t even go out on the ground he climbs on the pickup. He throws the bales down to the cows after cutting the strings. They go \u2018MAAAAHHHHHH\u2019. They don\u2019t really go \u2018moo\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The door opens again and he gets in as I slide over. He always has to duck down so that he doesn\u2019t knock his hat off. He likes cars and pickups where he doesn\u2019t have to take off his hat but they are hard to find. He takes off his gloves and drives the pickup again. Smokey is running next to the pickup because the bales were so high that he couldn\u2019t get on and now he is waiting for the pickup to stop but it doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Dad, how old are you?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Me? I\u2019m forty-four.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My mind is blown. You can have two<\/em> fours? \u2018Just think how strong you\u2019re gonna be when you turn sixty-six.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n He starts laughing and then tells me I\u2019m cute. It used to make me mad when people said that but mommy said that it\u2019s good to be cute and that boys can be both tough and cute at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Dad, if a bull and a bear got into a fight, who would win?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n He says: \u2018Actually, people a long time ago, called the Spanish, they lived out in California where grandma and grandpa are, they used to make them fight. I think the bear almost always won.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Oh.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n After a moment I add: \u2018But what about if the bear was crippled?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Well then the bull would probably win.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Oh.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018But what about if both the bear and the bull were crippled?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n He sighs. \u2018I don\u2019t know. How would I know that? I guess whichever one is hurt the least.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes he gets mad but this stuff is important so I press on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Could you beat up a bear?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n He smiles and is happy again. \u2018Why of course I could, I could beat up any bear there is.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Really?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n He nods, still smiling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018But what if you were crippled?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n 2023<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I always feed cows with dad. I have to, \u2018cause he couldn\u2019t do it without me. He even said so. But today it\u2019s cold. It\u2019s not very fun. Smokey is having fun though. He likes to roll around in the … Continue reading