Hat Tips

Hello,

A couple days ago, Slate, our youngest grandson and I were moving some stuff in the barn. I have good barn cats. But they are well fed and will not work real hard at mousing. The mice had them figured out and had built a resort under feedbags that were stacked on a wooden pallet. The mice had eaten holes in the bottom of the sack so were on a wonderful diet of ground corn, distiller’s grain, and wheat mids. They didn’t have to ever come out for food, and the cats couldn’t get under the pallet to get them. It was a little slice of mouse heaven.

Slate and I moved the pallet and the gig was up! Mice ran everywhere. Cats were after mice. The dog was after mice. Slate was after mice. I stood on a bale and screamed. I don’t like mice.

The funny part was when Slate was showing Grams how the cats catch and torture the mice. He is a fine actor. I see some real potential there.

That got me thinking about my unnatural fear of mice. I mean a 2-ounce mouse should not intimidate a 270-pound man. I can’t explain it. I don’t recall ever having been hurt by a mouse. I don’t recall anyone in the world being hurt by a mouse. But, it’s a fear that is there.

When I went to a bull sale with Lynn, who is bigger than I, he was telling of his deathly fear of snakes. Any snakes. Garter snakes, bull snakes, rattlers, it doesn’t matter. He hates snakes.

When he was younger, and considerably lighter, he was water skiing on the Shadehill Lake. Picture this. A relatively big man behind a boat. Gliding across the water. Until misfortune struck.

The boat quit. Bang! Kapoot! And he settled down into the water while his friends were pulling valiantly on the engine rope to no avail. Lynn sat there waiting for the boat to get going. Nothing.

Then he saw the snake! A huge bull snake! Swimming across the Shadehill Dam. And the snake had been swimming a long time. It was looking for an island to rest on. And here was a huge, white island! It veered its course towards Lynn and raised its head out of the water to better admire this floating oasis.

Lynn said he maybe walked further and faster on water, wearing water skis, than Jesus did! He passed the boat that was supposed to be pulling him and hit the beach so hard he burnt the bottom of his skis.

And that’s the truth.

Later, Dean