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The Comfort of Friends · 109 109 12 The Comfort of Friends it’s simply doesn’t seem possible that an entire year has gone by, and eli and Katie Gingerich are filling the silo for a second winter’s cow sustenance . i’m also surprised by how much i’m looking forward to helping again this year. Tonight i will be totally exhausted, and yet i can think of nothing i’d rather do with this day. There’s eli’s farm just ahead on the left. i need to park my car somewhere out of the way, so if the tank truck comes by to pick up milk it won’t have to maneuver around my car. Under that big maple tree next to the shop should be just fine. It’s 8:30 a.m. as i step out into a warm, sunny morning with a thick blanket of fog in the low spots and some lingering haze on the hills. Noise coming from the barn tells me that eli is hitching horses and getting ready for the day’s work. i round the corner into the open barn door and almost smash my face into the spongy nose of a startled, half-harnessed Belgian mare. Our eyes lock in a moment of mutual surprise and fear. As my heart finally slows down and stops thumping on the walls of my chest, i’m left with a distinctly uncomfortable feeling that the mare, who is now looking around the barn with benign disinterest , recovered from the encounter so very much faster than i did. i can’t be certain, but my feeling is this exchange may not bode well for the time when, a few short minutes from now, i’ll be expected to pick up her reins and act as if i’m completely in control. eli is clipping the harness together on the Belgian’s far side and thankfully missed the entire embarrassing episode. “Good morning, eli.” “Hello, Randy. You ready for another long day?” 110 · Why Cows Need Names “Sure, i can stand it if you can.” This is purely feigned bravado on my part. a very large part of my psyche is actually consumed with the fear that some time during this day, i will screw up—big-time. i am hoping against hope that none of the horses temporarily under my control run off and smash some equipment or one of the farmers or me. Mainly, i’m hoping that i’ll have the physical stamina to make it through the day, thereby avoiding the embarrassment of admitting that i just can’t do it anymore. i decide it’s best to temper the bravado by adding, “Well, maybe not. We’ll see. What would you like me to do right now?” eli laughs, “actually there’s not much to do until we get these horses hitched.” i suppose i should offer to help with the hitching, but i’ve never really figured out how to properly hitch horses, at least not with confidence. I’d have to ask eli what to do at each step in the process. like as not, i’d just be in the way. To me it’s always a jumble of singletrees, traces, doubletrees, padded horse collars, levelers, clips, whiffletrees, and reins. Besides, Eli gave me an out by saying there really wasn’t much to do now. Gracefully, i dodge the whole hitching conundrum by saying, “Okay, guess i’ll just look around the barn for a few minutes.” Chip has already found me. i’m a sucker for most dogs, and cats, for that matter, but i particularly like this dog, and he seems to know it. i pet his head and pat him on the side and try to make my way into the cow barn. He wags his tail and dances around in front of me, so close that i can barely move. i try to ignore him, but this dog is not to be ignored. Finally, he takes his paw and lays it firmly on my foot. I give up, and bend down to give this good dog all the attention he seems to need. After a few minutes, he’s finally sated and ready to run off into this morning’s next adventure. The cows are out in the pasture munching grass right now, so the barn is pretty much empty. There are a few young Holstein heifers in a box...

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