The Face Plant That Changed Cattle Feeding Time

Thanks to an entry in my journal from December 29, 2015, I can recall this traumatic morning.

                I moved to the farm to assist with Dad’s care and take charge of his daily rehab following his stroke. My sister delighted in telling that I was the sergeant. However, Dad thrived on the exercises and  saw results in his recovery.

Mother remembered hearing me say I liked cattle one time so I was appointed cattle caretaker. In July, I began supplementing the cattle because the drought was so severe in 2012, making grass so scarce. I had already begun daily drawing water for the cattle at the stock tank since the ponds were so low.

            Many times, since that inaugural summer, I revisited that significantly dry year with thanksgiving. The old adage indicated ignorance is bliss and I agreed wholeheartedly since I had nothing to compare with that demanding dry summer so had no experience to affirm how difficult the summer of 2012 was.

                Dad always tried to get his cattle fed as early as he could each morning. He hated for them to go through the day hungry.

                Because of Dad’s pattern, I continued the same protocol with supplemental feeding early each morning. I tried to rise before Dad awakened, feed the cats, and put pellets in the bunk feeders. Then I hurried back to assist him in getting out of bed, so he could sit up briefly in his chair before I followed beside him as he walked to the table for breakfast. Dad could maneuver quite well on his own, but my brother-in-law cautioned Angie and me to always accompany him to avoid a fall.

                On the morning of December 29 of 2012, the thermometer hovered around 10 degrees Fahrenheit. I had overslept until I heard Dad call. (Angie or I slept in the same room where he rested so we could immediately respond to any need he had.) I leaped off the couch to help him, as I internally chided myself for oversleeping and not tending to the cattle.

                Suddenly, I heard a horrendous thud that shook the house. Simultaneously my mother cried out in pain. I moved close to Dad’s face so I could be certain he heard me say with the calmest demeanor I could muster, “Dad, just a minute I will be right back.”

                I rushed into Mother’s bedroom to find her face down next to her bed. Blood oozed from her nose. Without thinking, I began the “stroke” diagnostic questions – Can you tell me your name? What is your birthdate?...

                She responded with an agitated voice, “I know all that. My nose is bleeding. Get something to get it stopped!”

Photo of Mother taken by my sister,
Angie, on December 29, 2012.
Thankfully, she had no broken bones but 
the injury resulted in limited mobility.
Mother does not like this photo, but it
portrays how beat up she looked after
her fall.

                I ran to the bathroom to get towels but thought Mother wouldn’t be pleased with the use of her good towels to staunch blood. Thankfully, I recalled only recently, Angie, Mother, and I had relocated older towels to the back porch. I zipped out to get those vintage, frayed towels and returned handing one to Mother to hold on her own nose since she seemed to be her independent self.

                I trotted into the living room where Dad was. I told him I was getting the home blood pressure monitor so I could take Mother’s BP. As I grabbed the monitor, I also reached out with the other hand to grasp the phone as I went by its base. After getting the cuff in place to ensure a blood press reading, I called Angie. Ben got on the phone and asked several questions that I tried to answer or relay his inquiry to Mother for a response. He assured me that he and Angie were on the way.

                Finally, we got the bleeding stopped. I helped Mother get up and surprisingly, she agreed to use the walker that up to that time had been her bath towel rack. She had injured her arm. Eventually, Ben would diagnose the cause as dizziness or vertigo. Angie and I reprimanded her for knowing she was extremely dizzy when she sat up in bed but foolishly tried to stand up anyway. No wonder she ended up on the floor!

                Even with the major injury interruption starting the day, with Angie and Ben’s arrival, we were able to get Dad’s therapy exercises done and care for Mother without upsetting him. Later in the day, I realized I had never gotten to tend the cattle. Late on that winter day, I got out to feed the cattle finally.

                The next week, I heard Dr. Glenn Selk, the OSU Cooperative Extension cow-calf specialist, on Sun-Up, the agriculture television program focusing on Oklahoma and produced by Oklahoma State University. My mother’s great-niece, Lyndall Stout, hosted the show. What affirmation to hear the professor-emeritus in animal science cite Canadian and British research tying late day or night feeding with daytime calving!

Lyndall Stout, Mother's great niece and Angie
Gates Bradley, my sister at the Gates reunion. I
 have often told Lyndall my only regret is that 
her maternal grandpa, Jess Gates, did not get to
 see her host Sun-Up. Lyndall continues to host 
and serves as executive producer of the program 
dedicated to educate the Oklahoma ag producer.

                Good things can come out of bad situations. To this day, I continue late day feeding of Mother’s little herd. It works in better with my daily schedule and since I am so cold-natured, I can feed in the warmest part of the day. Our calving predominantly occurs during the daylight hours.

Last month, when assisting my brother-in-law and sister with fence-building and a gate installation, right at 4 p.m., the usual time for feeding pellets, the herd began to assemble at the bunk feeders. I commented, “It’s like they wear watches!” Even cattle can adjust to a retired school teacher's tendency to keeping on schedule. 

                As I conclude this posting, the scripture penned by King David of Israel seems so appropriate.

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord,

And He delights in his way.

Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;

For the Lord upholds him with His hand.

Psalm 37:23-24

Lest anyone think some of us are born good people or we manage to be good by our own designs, King David wrote There is none who does good. (Psalm 14:1) The Apostle Paul restated in his letter to the Romans in chapter 3, verses 10-12.

There is none righteous, no, not one;

There is none who understands;

There is none who seeks after God.

They have all turned aside;

They have altogether become unprofitable;

There is none who does good, no, not one.

As we look to the New Year of 2018, there can hardly be more encouraging words that the words of Jesus in Matthew 9:13. May we, with grateful hearts, embrace and thank Him daily with our heartfelt devotion for the change He brought to our lives and His empowerment to us so we can obey as we internalize His declaration:

For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.