ice Fishing With a log chain

Its the kind of day where your glasses get hoar frost, contact lenses freeze on your eyeballs and phones don't work. Diesels gel up, stuff breaks and the chickens don't lay.

It was about 4pm and taking advantage of extra daylight I donned my ultra flattering survival onesie to go check cows. Even in the harshest weather, exercise is important to me. Walking stick and pup in tow, I head towards the western sun to check water. The Farmer, warming up the tractor would soon be coming behind with bales of hay and corn stocks. We barely got above Zero degrees today.

Skirting the oldest of our 7 ponds I noticed and oddly shaped bump from the distance that didn't look right. Speeding up, it was what I feared as a young cow had broken through the watering hole. Her backside was submerged and front legs tiredly flopped under her chin from exhaustion. Before trying to console the dear, I make a speedy removal of my deerskin gloves hoping my phone would not be frozen. Words flew from my mouth in surprising clarity that it even shocked me! "get the log chains to the west side of the old pond quick!" Moving at rapid tractor warp speed He executes the rescue with uber cowboy finesse, drags Bessy out by the neck as Festus and I cheer from her rear end.

Suddenly, as quick as she was rescued, the log chain comes detached at the tractor end and the near-dead heifer doll gallops off to the sound of the Farmer saying a self demeaning string of words. I see a chance to be a hero, tripping through the brush and dodging trees to outrun her as she is still in shock and bedazzlement from her frigid near-death experience. Log chain within reach I lunge on the end, holding on for my chance to save the day (or, maybe get killed) Bessie the heifer doll takes a go at dragging me through the woods, I close my eyes to escape the multiflowered rose attack. Snow packs my gloves and pockets full. Face to the snow I stop like a human snow plow - she finally stops as I hear a gentle "SKEWWW" from the Farmer as a cow-whisperer from Heaven to calm the savage cow. His cowboy finesse once more leaves me breathless as the chain gets wrapped quickly around a tree and Bessy is freed from the chain.

Time will tell if she makes it through the night.

These animals show incredible toughness. The elements, and environments they survive always surprise me. I've read many posts recently of how we need to take extra care for our outdoor animals. It's the Farmer and Rancher who we should be worried about. Our farm animals survive cold days. Its 7pm now, we came in to thaw our feet and hands and its time for the Farmer to go back out and spread a few bales of feed because the forecast is now for -15F on tomorrow, the Lord's Day. As I sit picking out thorns from my arms, I reflect on the broken-ice log chain rescue, I'm happy to be inside, with a furnace, good lighting, plenty to eat., and the Farmer.