I Didn’t Recognize Them

Several summers ago, I was in the living room one morning when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something pass by the window. I looked quickly but nothing seemed amiss. Then our English Springer Spaniel, Paddy, (of blessed memory) began to bark furiously and raced toward the same window. A herd of Holstein cows was trotting through the garden, up the hill, through the dooryard and down the driveway!

What to do? Well, they were coming from the opposite direction from where a neighbor’s cows often got out. Had they been those cows, I would have known to head outside and begin herding them back home, using a cornstalk or branch to wave them along. But this was a much bigger herd. It’s a small town so I figured I would call the police. I did. As soon as I described my location and the direction the cows had come from, the dispatcher had a pretty good idea who the cows belonged to. This neighbor, who lives on the far side of a hill to our north, had similar problems in the past. But the cows had never before gotten quite this far. This time they went for a pleasant stroll through many acres of woods - up hill and down dale as it were - and then crossed the stone wall on our northern boundary, traipsed through our four and a half acres and were headed up the road - to visit the other oft wandering herd perhaps?

Well, everything was soon sorted out. All the cows were rounded up and none were the worse for wear after their outing. Late that afternoon, Paddy began to bark again as a huge pick up truck drove up the driveway and parked outside the kitchen door. An impressively, nay imposingly, tall, burly man stepped out and introduced himself. He was our town’s Fence Viewer. He was there to see if the visiting cows had done any damage to our property, our land or even the vegetable garden. I reported that all was well. He asked many questions, wanting to be absolutely certain that no disgruntlement would fester into a grudge and cause problems later. I was finally able to reassure him and he stepped back into the enormous truck and drove off.

Just another day in the country...