August 5, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

August 5, 1963

Monday, 52-58 high, cloudy, rainy, cool.  I sewed and mended.  Clifton started work at Jefferson. Our cows are still gone.  David and Wayne looked for them.  Mrs. Bolen called 4:30 and said they were down there.

Comment:  Damned cows out again.  This time they headed south, not north up the mountain.  Sound like they were gone about a day which is a pretty long time for them to be gone.  The cows played a major part in our lives on the hill.  We were always doing something that revolved around the cows,  haying, fixing fence, cleaning the barn, butchering, going after calves, selling the calves, de-horning, going after them, spreading their manure, buying cattle feed and salt blocks, and always milking them, twice a day, seven days a week, year-round.  The cows had different personalities and we came to know which were the rebels that we had to watch and which were the docile critters that would always go meekly to their stanchions and wait to be fed and milked.  But we also learned that they were always animals and could act totally unpredictable in any situation and it was very dangerous to anthropomorphize them.   Many a farmer learned that the hard way when a pet bull or cow with calf suddenly turned on them and either injured them severely or killed them.  "According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, from 1992-1997, more than 
75,000 workers received injuries and 375 workers were killed from animal-related injuries. Cattle are responsible for most injuries caused by farm animals."  So, as the old Texas Ranger said when asked by a city dude if his loaded and cocked six-gun on his hip wasn't dangerous:  "Dangerous?  You damn betcha!"


Here is a song about an injury my cousin Paul Ellis suffered from "the Ayrshire on the end"

If you’re raised up on a dairy farm, life’s easy after that.

https://hubbardfamilymusic.tumblr.com/post/6725577733/kicked-original-by-gerry-hubbard-pauls-been