Opinion

Home on the range

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Heading to Lawrence, Kan., the other day, we stopped at Garnett and saw my son Lance and his oldest boy fixing fence behind his house. They have a 14 acre pasture that came with the house and they lease it out for grazing.

Presently they have about seven heifers that were munching away contentedly on the fescue but one particular heifer named Almond kept testing the fences. Almond appeared to be an appropriate name because she seems to be a bit nutty.

The particular morning we stopped, Almond had escaped sometime during the night and spent most of the evening grazing on his newly planted sweet corn. They had put Almond back in the pasture and were trying to strengthen their fence to keep her in.

Later that evening we came back for the eighth grade graduation and the family decided to go to the back yard to take pictures. We looked up and Almond came around the corner of the house trying to get back into her pasture. She was followed closely by one of the Garnett policemen who knew her on a first name basis as well as her ability to roam the north end of Garnett.

The owner of the heifer promised to move the cattle off the pasture the next day. As far as the family was concerned, it couldn't be soon enough.

Almond reminds me of a song that Gene Autry used to sing when I was a lad entitled "Don't Fence Me In." From the conversation I was hearing, it sounds like Almond's days are numbered. There is even talk of "Almond" hamburger.