On Being a
Farm Wife
(and other
hazards) ,
Joyce Bupp
A shaft of sunlight streams
through the opened back door,
splashing its glow across the
kitchen floor, highlighting the
dust and barn dirt which gath
ers, even as I sweep similar
debris out the front door.
Stretched to her length in the
sunshine-spot is Monk, our
senior-citizen housecat, snooz
ing the morning away in the
warmth. Usually the closed
doors prevent Monk from enjoy
ing one of her favorite comfort
zones. But when the weather is
mild, the sun floods the back
porch, and the woodstove is well
stoked, I prop open the inside
back door so the sunshine can
beam in through the storm door
glass.
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That shaft of sunlight is not
only welcomed for this cheerful
ness, but also because Monk is
enticed to snooze somewhere
other than whatever chair I'm
trying to use. If I have paper
work strewn across the kitchen
table, she wants the cushioned
kitchen chair. If I’m working at
the computer, she wants the
cushioned office chairs. We wage
this chair-ownership power
struggle endlessly, this cat and
I.
But she’ll abandon all soft,
cushioned furniture to sprawl
across the sun-warned floor
when the wintry sumbeams
pour in. Of course, then I trip
over her.
On the other hand, if the
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stove is burning low and the
house chilly, old Monk will lay
claim to one of the floor vents
directing the heat upstairs front
the woodstove. While that
maneuver keeps her toasty, it
effectively blocks the warm air
from its intended purpose.
Of all domestic critters, cats
are about the most clever and
creative in finding select crea
ture comfort zones. The barn
cats are equally adept with this
instinct.
Midnight, the black stray
who adopted us and now owns
the back porch, wisely found
warmer quarters when the tem
peratures dropped toward the
single digits, he snagged squat
ter’s rights to the concrete
walled understory of the heifer’s
feed trough, a proverbial snug
as-a-bug-in-a-rug spot for cats.
Numerous mother cats over
the years have used this spa
cious, warm, hidden quarters as
a nursery. Fat mice sometimes
visit the feed and hay inches
away, and fresh milk and cat
food supplies are provided regu
larly. A couple of conveniently
poked holes made to repair
water leaks offer Midnight limit
ed entrance, and make it easy to
keep potential, but unwanted,
cat roommates at bay.
Meanwhile, our native feline
barn felines favor the haymow
overhead, with plentiful nooks
and crannies in which to curl up
m secluded darkness. At feeding
time, they appear from all direc
tions, yawning and stretching
like they’ve been snoozing since
the last feeding. Which they
probably have.
Except for Diamond (a love
able calico with a black dia
mond-shaped marking) who
makes herself at home in any
and all of these places, on con
stant alert to what’s happening.
Every morning she leaps up to
the four-feet-high windowsill at
the calf barn sink while I’m fill
ing calf bottles, to peer through
the glass and deliver an eye
level guilt trip that I still
haven’t fed her.
For half-pint-cat Miss Calico
and her sidekick, Pest, nothing
beats the dairy barn utility
room for comfort on a cold morn
ing. Motors from the milking
system and milk cooling com
pressors keep the small room
warm on even bitter days.
Snagging the top of the hot
water heat for a nap is an addi
tional plus for these two While
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Lancaster Farming, Saturday. February 6, 1999-B5
Miss Calico is one of our pre
mier mousers and can do just
about whatever she wants, her
affinity for leaving muddy foot
prints on the barn desk records
sometimes earns her a trip back
up to the calf barn.
Some of the cows, likewise,
are skilled at snagging the
cushiest bedding areas They
seek out the thickest straw or
sawdust of fodder, though differ
ences might not be discernible to
us. In fact, some of the girls
always manage to keep them
selves relatively neat and their
udders reasonably clean and
dry, while a few in the herd
inevitably look like (hog farm
ers, forgive me) pigs.
Newborn baby calves in the
boxstalls instinctively know to
curl up in the softest, driest cor
ner. And often their older
cousins will stand in their indi
vidual pens, patiently waiting
for fresh bedding, then flop
down almost before it hits the
bedding pack.
All critters need, and seek
out, certain comforts.
Like people, though, some are
just better at it than others.