Four Country Gals

With September closing fast, we’re enjoying the last of “Mom’s” flowers and getting ready for winter.

The lambs are at home in their pen, having been moved from the backyard to give the dogs their own playground.

Bev is happily working for Washington County as the Enterprise Senior Center Bus Driver. Both Cindy and Bev have finished one working for a local guy, cleaning his farm and generally helping to get things planted and squared away. They’ve gotten quite an education.

Cindy has even spent a few weeks working for one of the local “cubers”, hauling alfalfa from the fields to the cubing plant. What a job! She’s driven a variety of trucks with a rather unstable “hay wagon” tacked on behind her. She’s been all over the valley and even north in the next valley. Days have begun at noon and ended at midnight… no time for working with the animals on that shift.

At the end of October, Cindy and Bev go to Las Vegas for a “Natural Horsemanship” seminar with Pat Parelli. Cindy thinks she’s discovered how to interact with Dusty. Only one problem… no one has told Dusty, or given him the tapes to watch.

She’s out there working with him, and all of a sudden… ka-whomp! He’s kicked her square in the ribs. Here’s the sad thing… how it all happened.

Cindy was working with him in his stall and she had to get behind him, very near a gate. In her own words… “I had a bad feeling, and even saw him posture. I’m thinking “this is gonna hurt” but can’t move fast enough”. Needless to say, it hurt, bad… leaving a hoof-shaped bruise that lasted a couple of weeks.

By November 10, winter has arrived with the first snowfall.  God only knows what’s in store for everyone this winter.

Mom wants to go to the “Peach Festival” in Hurricane. Sounds like a good idea as Barb and Don (Bev’s cousins) can join them and make a day of it.

Would you believe what they’ve adopted? No, it isn’t a peach tree… and it’s name isn’t “Peaches”.

Bev and Cindy decide to call her “Kiki”. She’s about four months old and is billed as a cross between a German Shepherd, Aussie Shepherd, and Border Collie. All I know is she’s the biggest wuss around.

She’s scared of her own shadow! From the way she acts, I personally think she was abused as a puppy. You can bet that will never happen again.

Deena has decided to get out of the “horse rescue” business. That means there’s no more need for “foster parents”. Not to worry, she’s transferring ownership of Dusty to Cindy and Bev. Kid is moving on in preparation for his racing career.

With Dusty now in permanent residence, that means it’s time for Cindy to get serious about his training.

With the stable and corral finished, it’s time to move the little “foster horses” north from Enterprise to Beryl.

Dusty and Kid are just yearlings who either will never see the race track, or who need a temporary home until time to go to the trainer.

In Dusty’s case, he’ll never see the track as he has a slightly crooked cannon bone on his right front leg. He still needs love, and training, and he can become a very good pleasure riding horse, just not a race horse.

Kid is “track material”, but not ready to go to the trainer for a while. Cindy and Bev will nurture him and Dusty will provide other “horse company”.

What are the goals? Since Dusty will be here “long-term”, Cindy will work with him, and eventually saddle and ride him. She’s never done this, so the two of them will be learning together.

Kid is “just visiting”, so he’ll be loved and nurtured, but not trained. That is a job for the professional trainer.

As you can see, Dusty really admires his new keepers. Both Cindy and Bev are taking an active role in socializing him.

He’s got his issues. Some days, he’s a brat. Some days, he’s pushy. Some days, well… he’s just a total love… not the least bit well-behaved, but a total love.

Well, everyone (but Cindy and Bev) know that sheep are “flock or herd” animals. One lamb amongst a pack of dogs has serious identity problems. Not to mention a lamb that started life sleeping in “Grandma’s” bed.

What to do? Get more bummers! It seems there’s an ample supply this year.

So, they go from “Paco”, the lone lamb… to a small flock, adding “Taco” and “Wooly”. Now, the new guys don’t get near the treatment Paco got. They’re confined to dog crates at night, and outside in the back yard just as soon as possible.

The weather is quite agreeable, and with three of them, there’s safety in numbers. Especially with a pack of dogs who believe their lot in life is to eat, play, and sleep.

The back yard has some “edibles”, that really have to go away before any landscaping can be done, so the little lambs are sort of “earning their keep”. The little “kids” get a shelter, so they can escape the hot, summer sun.

No thoughts yet as to what happens when they grow up…

Part of our dream has been to have more than just dogs… we really would like to again have a horse or two.

Cindy was a really good rider, participating in barrel racing all through high school, and Bev helped her Grandfather a lot when he was raising “sulky horses”. For years, they’ve had to set aside the desire to own, train and ride horses.

But, they’ve got some hurdles. They don’t really know any one yet… and they sure don’t have a barn. Oh, and it’s still winter here… and they’ve got no idea when it will be spring.

Never mind, since Bev is in town regularly, she often stops by the local hardware store… Bracken’s. They have a “local ad board” where she finds a request for “horse rescue center volunteers”.

What the heck… they go check it out.

Cindy and Bev head into Enterprise to visit. That’s all, just visit… well, maybe we could volunteer some hours feeding and cleaning.

Turns out, the gal is starting a “Thoroughbred Horse Rescue Center” as her father-in-law and grandfather breed and raise Thoroughbreds for the racing industry. You know, only a very small percentage of horses ever actually make it to the track… so she’s thinking setting up a rescue would be a good idea.

Within days, it’s really winter again, and thoughts of horses are far from their minds. First, what to do with all this snow! It seems like no sooner is it here… then it is gone… and then back again.

From the middle of February, until the end of March, we’ve had at least four distinct snow storms, leaving as much as 8 inches or so each time. Even our birds are tiring of the routine. Poor little things, they’re just so cold.

Finally, with a 10-day dry stretch, they begin thinking again about the horses. Deena’s having a hard time getting volunteers and she’s thinking maybe it would be better to find “foster homes” for the “racing rejects”.

You know… we’ve got this old shed out along the north property line. Wonder if we could do anything with it? Wonder how much work it would take to modify it for a horse or two?

Oh boy, it’s full of tumbleweed. What’s with all this “heavy metal”? They must have kept something pretty big in here… cows maybe? Hey look… we’ve even got a frost-free hydrant. That will make things really easy… we can just hook up a hose and fill water barrels from here. No time to see if it’s operational, the ground’s still pretty frozen.

Hmm, even if we do get this area cleaned out, we don’t have a corral, or anything to make a corral. We’ll need posts, a way to dig the holes for the posts, fencing (including electric), and God only knows what else.

Electric fence? Now, that’s gonna be fun… we don’t have any power! Oh, wait, we’ve got plenty of sun… we’ll get a solar powered fence charger.

The gals (and Shawn) enjoy a quiet Christmas, celebrating by opening packages on Christmas eve. This year, it’s a little subdued as Mom is still recovering from the bout of diverticulitis and then depression.

Coco, the puppy is the “star of the show”, investigating every gift, and of course, all the wrapping paper.

Shawn has to catch the Las Vegas shuttle out of St George bright and early Christmas morning, so it’s up at “Oh God:thirty”, well before the sun comes up.

Leaving Mom home with most of the dogs, Bev, Cindy, Shawn, and Coco “the pup” pile into the Avalanche for the hour plus drive to St. George. All the way there, they’re a little concerned about whether or not the shuttle will actually be running on Christmas Day.

No problem, they arrive at about sun up (shortly after 7 AM) and hook up with the shuttle.

Their only regret is that there is no snow for Christmas.

Oh… but the very next morning, they awake to the first tease… a brief snow shower.

The ground has been frozen for some time now, so what little falls sticks immediately. Is it really winter here now?

Life is very good indeed… all the way through Thanksgiving and until the morning of December 11.

Mom wakes up not feeling her usual perky self. She’s got an upset stomach that’s getting worse as the morning goes on.

Teasingly, Bev says, “If you’re not better in an hour, I’m calling the squad (cop talk for emergency services)!”

And Mom replies… “Don’t think you’d better wait for the full hour”

With that, both Bev and Cindy spring into action. They call 911 and begin moving furniture so the EMT’s can get the gurney to Mom’s room. Let’s see, if they bring the gurney in the front door, they can go out the sliding door, and make the turn on the patio, then come in the back door with a straight shot into Mom’s room.

Within about 15 minutes, the squad arrives, and loads Mom up for the 45 minute trip to Cedar City. Bev and Cindy follow in the Avalanche. No one knows for sure what Mom’s problem is… but they all agree, she’s feeling pretty badly to agree to a ride in the ambulance.

One thing about Utah, and health care. These folks know how to take care of you… Bedside manners are tops. Even in the emergency room, the empathy oozes. Health care is a most important aspect of the “good life” in Utah.

Now, this a Sunday, so you wouldn’t expect much news about any conditions. But again, because it’s Utah, and health care is awesome, Mom is diagnosed with diverticulitis. She’s spending several days in the hospital until the Dr’s can get the infection under control.

Here it is… Christmas season, and Mom’s in the hospital. No time to slow down…

Besides making nearly daily trips to Cedar City, Bev and Cindy are readying the house for Christmas. That means shopping for presents and also meeting Shawn when he arrives.

Mom’s always hard to shop for, but this year, it’s a bit of a “no-brainer”. Earlier this year, on the way to Utah, the girls had lost “Bree”, having to euthanize her at the start of the move.

They’d be replacing her with a spunky little “brown bug”. Looking around, they found a family in Cedar City who had a Chocolate Lab puppy up for a “rescue adoption”. Perfect! She’ll do just fine with the Black Lab, the other “old gal” Chocolate Lab, and Koda, the shepherd-husky cross.

So, on Dec 17, nearly a week after Mom has gone to the hospital, Bev and Cindy visit the folks with the Chocolate Lab. Yes… they’ll take that one. How soon can they pick her up?

It’s now just a week before Christmas and time to go get Shawn. He’s making things easier by flying into ‘Vegas and then taking the shuttle into St. George. That means Bev and Cindy will go get him, then pick up the puppy, and then visit Mom.

“How well do we have to hide a puppy to get into Mom’s room”, Cindy asks.

“Puppy? How small… oh really… Yes, by all means. The puppy is welcome in her room.”

With only two days to spare, Mom is finally released from the hospital only to spend the next 10 days pretty much in bed, suffering from a bout of depression.

It’s getting into November now, and the gals, remembering Ohio are looking for really cold and snowy weather.

They’ve got the fireplace ready. It’s even decorated for Christmas with a “frontier desert” motif. Along with the fireplace, they’ve laid in several cords of wood, as the fireplace will provide most of the “morning heat” and evening “stoke it really good” heat. Even though electric heat isn’t expensive here, they’re not real sure about the quality of their furnace/heat pump.

They can see snow in the really high mountains. That’s actually “Brian Head”, Utah’s most southerly ski resort. It’s situated south of Bryce Canyon and north of Zion National Park.

They even watch some really menacing stuff pass them by on the east. Around here, the main “weather” happens east of the nearest mountain range in what they call the “I-15 Corridor”. That’s where Cedar City is located… and they get an abundance of snow.

In the meantime, cold means it’s below freezing at night… sometimes way below as in barely above zero, and then bright and sunny during the daytime. Oh, and what makes it winter is the north wind.

When the wind comes from the north, especially the northeast, or even east, the wind chill is ferocious. Even the birds look for shelter where they can stay out of the wind.

Think they’re happy?

You bet! With Mom here, and the dogs, “Mindy, Missy, and Koda”, the family is nearly complete. They’ve even managed to get Shawn, Cindy’s son to come out for Christmas. Life is very good, indeed.

With the family more or less complete, Bev, Cindy and Mom settle in to prepare for the coming winter. Not knowing what to expect, they are laying in wood, and getting things put away and “winterized”, meaning extra insulation stuffed here and there, and “visquene” covering the large dining room window.

Other local “family members are also preparing for winter. Unfortunately, this little guy has chosen the front lawn as his “new domain”. Now, this little guy doesn’t know Cindy or Bev, or Mom, and has no idea exactly how they feel about green grass, and dirt mounds.

Cindy and Shari are chatting online when all of a sudden, Mom yelps. And when Mom yelps… it’s all hands on deck!

The ground is moving… out there, look… Every once in a while something is throwing dirt out onto an ever-growing mound.

What is it? Is it one of those protected prairie dogs? Is it a chiseler?

Never mind… it’s in our yard, and it’s making a mess… It has to go.

Plans are laid.

Here’s the deal… Cindy is the best shot, even though it’s been better than a year since she last fired her rifle. Cindy will sneak out the back door while Bev monitors the critter through the binoculars.

He doesn’t stick his head very far out of the hole for very long, so maybe Bev can help Cindy get a clean shot.

So, here’s Bev, looking through the binoculars, when all of a sudden “Pow!”. Bev is NOT a happy camper… Cindy’s managed to dispatch the critter with a single shot, while Bev saw more than she wanted.

Here comes Mom… and not a minute too soon!

The “girls” have now been “without her” for nearly two months. They’ve struggled with making “good coffee”… and Lord knows they’ve not been eating well. They’re idea of cooking is macaroni and cheese… or maybe no cheese.

Of course, with Mom arriving, that means they really need to get their rears in gear and get things put away. With some really creative “unpacking”, and a nice full basement, they’re able to make the living room/dining room and kitchen look presentable for Mom.

Mom is flying into Cedar City, so that will be a short drive over the mountains. One thing I don’t think she expected, is the “tour of the USA”. Her flight takes her from Toledo, to Atlanta, to Salt Lake City, and finally into Cedar City. Luckily, the girls have arranged for “sky cap” service throughout her flight.

She’s pretty exhausted, so a quick stop at Arby’s to pick up dinner and they scoot out of town, heading west over the mountains shortly before sunset.

As Mom sees the valley for the first time, she begins to appreciate her “new life” way out in the country. Shortly after reaching the summit when you’re heading west, you can see for nearly 50 miles from one side of the valley to the other. Bev points out about where they live… just a speck of trees to the “other side” of that silver thingy (a big hay barn with a metal roof).

Now that Mom is here, it’s time to get her room livable. The bed is pretty much in place, the there are still boxes everywhere, and the room is still chocolate milk brown… not Mom’s favorite color.

A quick trip to the “local” hardware store, and they’ve got paint… a really pretty blue. Next, it’s off to Cedar City again to pick out wallpaper for the wall at the head of Mom’s bed.

And then there’s that little strip from the wall to the ceiling. Cindy finds the cutest little lambs! Suppose that’s a “foretelling”?

From what Mom has told me… and I think I remember Cindy mentioning it… there were a lot of “bad words” exchanged as they put up the wallpaper and the “lamb” border. Cindy and Bev don’t argue much… but Cindy is the one with the “short fuse” and when things don’t go together right the first time… well, let’s just say she rear’s back and hit’s it harder.

Uh-oh, Mom’s still on “Ohio time”, so it’s up before the sun comes up. That’s ok. She adores sunrises, and listening to the birds sing. With the little “porch area” in front of the garage, she’s able to enjoy her tea for a few mornings, until it gets too cold to be out there.

Each day brings a totally unique style of sunrise, from highly colored to brilliant gold. All in all, Mom is so glad she’s finally home in Beryl, UT.

Does she miss her friends? Oh yeah, especially “Joey”. They’ve been “best buds” for years. They’ll keep in touch by phone and by snail mail.