The nice thing about being a writer is that I have a chronicle of things that happened on my farm. This allows me to look past the rain and the mud. The last time we had such a wretchedly wet winter was in 2007. I recall this vividly because, well . . I wrote it down! I distinctly remember the agony of mud, a flooded barn, and being up to my butt in grass and weeds so deep that I had to turn goats loose to tame the fence lines.
As I look at my barren pastures now, it's hard to imagine that this rain will bring back thick pastures. Clean fence lines will soon be overgrown with honeysuckle vines and tallow trees . . . and blackberries. This post is for all the readers, who like me, are wallowing in mud and need a reminder that there are blessings in the rain.
Picking Berries . . .
Two of my five flooded stalls have dried out enough that I was able to clean them and put in fresh shavings today. So I spent the afternoon cursing the rains that brought the flood while I hauled out the dried mud and dumped it in the pasture. I was already two hours into my task when I dumped a load of muck and happened to notice that my fence was lined with ripe blackberries. Well now . . . it would appear that the blackberries loved all the rain. And it just so happens that I love blackberry cobbler. Hmmm . . . rain can be a good thing!
So naturally I grabbed a bucket and started picking . . . and picking . . . Since I'm not a big fan of snakes, I was cautious, but Nature's bounty was too tempting and I soon found myself thick in briars and berries. My bucket was filling fast . . . until I stepped on the cat and dropped the bucket. Cats should not wait until you step on them before they announce their presence. It's a waste of blackberries and not good for the heart. After my blood pressure returned to normal, I started picking berries again. The cat decided that she should supervise the berry picking since I was obviously incompetent, so she accompanied me down the fence line.
In time, the stallion decided that perhaps he should join us too. I handed him a berry. Now I've had this animal for 21 years and to my knowledge he has never eaten a blackberry until today. Stallion happily smacked his lips around that blackberry and decided then and there that stallions like blackberries . . . a lot. So I handed him another. This one was obviously even better than the first. So I gave him another. By now his lips were blue. I laughed and pointed this out to him, but he just begged another berry.
I gave him one and went back to filling my bucket. It was taking a lot longer this time since I had a tortoise-shell cat and a gray stallion with blue lips following me down the fence line. The berry picking went something like this:
A berry for the bucket. A berry for the horse with the blue lips. A berry for the bucket. A berry for the horse with the blue lips. A berry for the bucket. Trip over the cat. Cuss. Pick up berries. A berry for the horse with the blue lips. Slip through the fence into the mare's pasture. Watch the horse with blue lips pace the fence line and shake his head in frustration. Go give him a berry. Pick a few more berries. See stallion smooching blue lips in my direction. Go give him another berry. Note that berries are disappearing faster than they are filling the bucket. Decide there are enough berries in bucket to make a pie. Leave pasture. Listen as horse with blue lips calls to me. Go back and give him another berry. Wonder how many berries it would take to colic a horse. Decide that perhaps horse with blue lips has had more than enough berries. Leave pasture again as horse with blue lips complains loudly. Wonder how long it will take him to figure out how to pick the berries himself. :)
