812-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 25,1989
On being
a farm wife
Joyce Bupp "" ' j|^Qj
-And other
hazards
One of the fringe benefits - sup
posedly - of increasing age is the
right to offer advice.
Years of experience - supposed
ly - make one wiser, more careful
and more likely to make sensible
decisions. This is‘an oft-repeated,
taken-for-granted, precept of the
way life works.
But, one of the wisest bits of
philosophy to come my way in a
long time was shared recently by
the 15-year-old son of a farm
wife’s friend. Of course, it had
been imprinted years ago on his
memory by his grandfather, who
may well have first heard it from
his grandfather, which is the way
wise advice should be passed on.
Some years ago, she was tapped
to help load finished cattle,
because the kids, who were more
experienced at such chores, had
returned to school after summer
vacation. On asking Dan, their
youngest, what she needed to
know to assist in this farm-wifely
chore, he offered her this advice.
“Keep your mouth shut and
don’t play with your stick.”
Anyone who’s helped load
livestock of any sort knows you’d
best pay careful attention Even a
loading cane, used to turn the
1,300-pound, half-wild, Angus-
Charolais cross steer before he
flattens your foot - along with the
rest of you, - is of no value if
you’re playing with it
The temptation to daydream, to
dawdle, to draw in the mud with
your toe, watch cloud figures, or
drag your protection stick back
and forth over the steel gate to
hear it clatter is almost irrestible to
. youngsters - and sometimes assist
ing farm wives.
Family members must still be
able to converse civilly and con
tinue living together beyond that
hour of loading steers, hogs, heif
ers, or whatever - so heads up, pay
attention, and don’t pay with that
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stick, for crying out loud!
That philosophy strikes me as
applicable to just about any job.
Computers play an increasingly
larger role in our lifestyle. Minus
power, they’re as worthless as a
kite without string. Every couple
months it seems, our electrical
supply cuts out for a few brief sec
onds at some unexpected moment.
If the data in the computer hasn’t
been saved on a disk, it vanishes
to never-never land. Frequent
“saving” is obviously important.
Every now and then, I get com
placent, lazy, forgetful, or in a
hurry, and neglect saving every
few paragraphs. Inevitably, that’s
when the power goes poof.
Having to rewrite a lost page of
copy is a painful reminder to stop
playing with the stick.
A more recent incidentof “head
in the clouds” could have been
even more painful.
From the day she first entered
the milking herd as a new heifer,
Element has been one of those
cows that you don’t surprise.
She’s perfectly fine dealing with
one activity at a time, but get her
just slightly rattled and she’ll nail
you with a wicked, well-aimed
back foot.
Most cows in our herd have
“pussycat” personalities. The few
jumpy, irritable individuals are
tolerated only as long as they
behave within reason, milk well
and don’t develop health prob
lems. Element is such a cow.
In fact, she’d settled down so
much that I recently got a bit care
less. While I was washing her
before milking, and not really pay
ing attention to who I was prep
ping, Element got distracted by
other activity.
The enusing wallop from her
foot landed square on my arm, just
below the shoulder, and effective
ly knocked my breath away
momentarily. Luckily it wasn’t
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with anger is to vent it. Wrong!
Suppressing your anger and
explosively venting it are both
linked to a death rate that is double
that of effective reflective coping
my face, as has happened to a
number of dairy farm friends, and
it resulted in nothing more than a
small bruise.
Playing with the stick again.
So, Dan, if you don’t mind, I’d
like to adopt for my own your
advice to not “play with the suck.”
As for the “keep your mouth
shut” part well, that’s another,
whole story.
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techniques. Among the potentially
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the five-step “Instant Calming
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second.
• Step 1, Be Sure to continue
breathing without interruption.
• Step 2. Put on a happy face no
matter what your mental state. It
increases blood flow to the brain.
• Step 3. Keep a balanced
Maple Sugar Demonstrations
Maple Sugaring demonstrations
will be held at Lancaster County
Central Park Sunday February 26,
March 5 and 12 from 1 to 4 P.M.
at pavilions #ll and 12 in the Wil
liamson Area. Reservations are
not required.
Maple Sugaring classes will be
Offers Woodcock Hike
Lancaster County Park natural
ist will lead a hike in the Mount
Gretna area of northern Lancaster
County to observe the male
American Woodcock perform his
fascinating courtship antics. The
hike will be held on Friday, April
14 beginning at 7 P.M. Interested
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posture.
• Step 4, Scan all your muscles
in one fast sweep of your mind
and flash a mental “wave of
relaxation.”
• Step 5. Acknowledge reality.
Focus the mind to respond to the
challenge, rather than analyze it.
Health And Fitness Excellence
is available at local bookstores.
Reading it may help set your mind
at rest and your body in
motion.
offered at the Shuts Environmen
tal Center Saturdays, March 4 and
11 beginning at 1 P.M. Classes are
designed for those who want to
learn more about starting maple
sugaring at home. Reservations
are required. Call 299-8215 for
reservations and information.
County Park
Mount Gretna (parking area is
located on the left travelling west
from Mount Gretna). The program
will last until dark so participants
should bring flashlights. The
program is free of charge to Lan
caster County residents, $2 per
person for non-residents. For
information or registration, call
299-8215.
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