It's worth it to mend your fence

It sure doesn't feel like spring. Last year was a cold spring, too. I like it when it is warm out and you can smell and see spring in the air.

A couple years back, when it was just starting to warm up, we kept our cattle in the barn near the house. We didn't put the cattle out on pasture until the grass had started to grow and become a decent length. That spring, our yard was torn up, as the cover from the cast iron septic tank had caved in and we began putting in a new septic tank along with a drainage hill when the ground thawed.

The old septic tank was covered with a piece of plywood and several rocks to keep it in place. On this particular day, the weather was warm, and the cows were restless, as they could smell the grass growing. I was home alone with my youngest son, Timmy, who was the baby. Tom was off digging a grave and the older children were in school.

One cow, in particular, wanted to get to greener pastures. I had watered the cattle well, fed them extra hay and had given them grain, but this cow kept leaning over the barbed wire fence all day. I kept watching her from my kitchen window as I worked and tended to my baby. I went out twice and walked across the muddy yard to holler at her to get away from the fence. I was hoping that Tom would return soon to reinforce the fence, as I didn't want to be chasing her around the yard.

As I was washing dishes, this cow leaned hard into the fence and she broke the top strand of barbed wire. She leaped over the lower barbed wires and ran into the yard. I ran out and chased after her and three heifers that were following. I didn't want them walking through the yard, because of the dug up septic tank. I went out and chased the three heifers back into the barnyard and got some grain and locked them into a pen in the barn.

The cow was feeling her oats and was bucking and running around the yard. I ran after her and she then went in the wrong direction across the yard and fell through the piece of plywood and into the septic tank.

This day had turned into a nightmare.

Right then, my kids drove home from school and I told them that they weren't going to believe what had happened. Then my mother drove in the yard right after them. She was all dressed in white with a pretty blue pin at her neck. She looked in dismay at how filthy I was. She got out of the car with a pan of homemade bars in her arms.

Mom said, "Well, how's your day going? It is such a beautiful day, I thought I would take a drive to see you. I have accomplished so much today. I washed my windows, cleaned out my china closet, scrubbed all the woodwork and baked this pan of bars."

"Well, a cow just fell into the septic tank," I said.

"That's not true," said Mom. "I'm leaving."

She thrust the pan of bars at me and went to get back in her car and then turned and said, "Let me see."

We walked around the house and there was the cow looking very mournful stuck down in the hole.

"Oh my God, it is true. Where's Tom? What are you going to do?" she demanded.

Right then we heard Tom's truck drive into the farmyard. We walked up to him. He was caked with mud and he said, "You will not believe the horrible day that I have had. The grave kept filling with water and the truck got stuck three times. I just want to relax."

I said, "A cow fell in the septic tank."

Tom looked at me incredulously and said, "That isn't even funny. Why do you tell me things like that when I worked so hard all day?"

"Because it is true," I answered.

My mother said, "I gotta go. There is way too much going on here."

She got in her car and sped away.

It took us a while, but we got the cow out of the hole by putting an iron chain around her neck and we pulled her out with the tractor. She was fine and she never tried to get out of the barnyard again. We put the new septic tank in that spring and the grass grows nice and green over the spot where the old tank used to be.