Tuesday, September 16, 2014
ruminations
skaterina is ruminating
pondering the issue of her missing appetite
ruminate : 1) to turn a matter over and over in the mind
2) to chew cud
yow
to reflect on again and again
this is going to take some time
do you know what a rumen is ?
the first division of the stomach of a ruminant
Moooooo
a ruminant is a cow
Moooooo reminds Skaterina of Spencer, the orphan calf she bottle fed when she lived on Wilson Mesa
until the rancher brought the little calf into custody Skaterina used to see him and she would call out to him / maybe he would respond, she thought, you mean like a dog ?
well
the night the rancher brought him into one of the sheds Skaterina went to see him
when the little calf heard her voice he ran right to her ! nuzzled her knees
the rancher was astounded
Why look at that, he said, he's a wild animal and he took right to you
Skaterina named him Spencer and bottle fed him every day
she also kept him out of the sun when he would sleep during the day
at dusk she brought him into the barn and in the morning brought him out with a bottle
Spencer was responsible for the most memorable entry in her Wilson Mesa Diary
~~~~~~
Thursday June 3, 1976
"Here's something i'd like to remember ten years from now
Took about 3 million ticks out of Spencer's ears today
the rancher tells me they disinfect the ears when they brand them
(I hate to think of Spencer being branded or castrated)
(but I can still picture him as a roast beef)
It was sort of fun scooping the ticks out in a gruesome kind of way
they were all gooed together in a yellowish substance which may have been ear wax or tick shit"
~~~~~~
okay / anyway
sometime later when Spencer had graduated to drinking his milk replacer from a bowl instead of a bottle he also learned to hang out with the other young steers
when he would see Skaterina he would MOOOOO and run up to her
the first time he MOOOOed at her sent her spirits soaring
ok
nuf sed
