162 Days of Summer: Weeks 1 & 2

You may be wondering, because of my absence, if I died a fiery death on my interstate trip home.



Yes. I did.


Not. Anyways, I've been keeping super busy since I returned, and I'm going to blame that instead of my complete lack of blog-writing motivation. I got home Sunday night and promptly began work in the morning. We've been working calves (an exclusively farm term that means we round the livestock up and put them in trailers, drive them to our main corrals, unload them, separate the moms from the babies, give the babies their shots, tattoo their ears, give them other assorted medicine, and castrate the little bulls--which I always feel a little bad about. Then we put the specific babies back with their specific moms and put them in the trailers to transport to other pastures. Sounds simple, right? Maybe more so if the calves didn't kick the ever-loving shim out of you. And the cows didn't try to smash you when you separate them from their babies. And oooh the poop...it's everywhere. The worst is when the cows poop all over the calves and then we need to put our hands on them to give them shots and whatnot. Eck.

We finished that maybe a week ago, and now we're cutting hay. I've been super excited about it, because I was never really allowed to drive the tractors before. So, first, I learned to drive the swather. That's the one that cuts the hay and puts it in nice little rows. Also, it cuts up little bunnies and birds and rats that are too stupid to move when the giant tractor comes, which was sad, but there's really nothing to do about it because you can't see them. Next comes the rake. After the hay sits there for a while, it needs to be turned so the bottom can dry out and the tops don't get bleached and a lot of other reasons that I don't know. It also combines rows so there's not so much for the baler to go over. While driving, I was tense as a jackrabbit because there are so many things to do simultaneously, and my hand-eye coordination isn't exactly the best. Nonetheless, I managed to make it through without messing up. Finally, came the baler. Even more buttons. One minor mishap later, and I've passed the Beginner's Beginner Level on each machine.

As far as socially, (HA) I haven't been out much. This is probably due to the fact that I've been avoiding any chance of seeing PHS high schoolers like the plague. My grandma thought it would be funny to drive past the track team as they were walking to the field, so I did what any rational person would do...crouched down and hid under my seat. Yes, I'm being a wimp. Yes, I shouldn't care what they think. I know this, but I think about having to talk to the majority of them (cuz there's about five I don't mind) and I get hives.

However, I have gone to see my friend Sara a few times. We went to a jewelry party, I hung out at her house, we went to see The Hunger Games...I've really missed her. So not the type of person I would have imagined as my best friend, but awesome nonetheless. We're total opposites on lots of things, I love school and science and writing, the last non-required book she read was like four years ago. She has so many shoes she could outfit a small country and I fit all of mine in a backpack. I remain firmly on the side of pessimism and she tries to talk me out of it. She navigates the social seas like they were a kiddie pool, and I hide from the track team in my grandma's car. It's good to have opposites.

My goals have been suffering badly, partly because I still haven't even completely unpacked and told myself I won't start until my stuff is in order and partly because I am usually just too dang tired to do anything when I get home. But sooner or later, I'll start. Until then!

As Ever
Me