Update on the Mystery Trash: I’m assuming the coffee was full of caffeine because Sanibel was full of restless energy, but it didn’t kick in until the weekend. I washed the bedspread but there is still some coffee grounds that are stuck in the fabric. Thankfully, it is not stained and Sanibel is back to normal (if you consider her normal).
Friday night Brent and I drove to Mentone, AL to visit my grandparents. They have a house that they started building when I was in first grade and finished it and moved in sometime while I was in college. My grandfather built the house himself as a hobby. I love going there because it is so relaxing, especially in the Fall when the leaves are changing colors on the mountain. They live next to an old lady who owns lots of property and cows. Many times the cows come right up to the fence. When Sanibel was 7 weeks old, she visited Mentone for the first time and got a chance to see the cows. She didn’t really care for them then. On Saturday, I noticed there was a cow by the fence, so I threw my shoes on, put the leash on Sanibel and we ran outside. I wanted to see how she would react now that she is older. As soon as we got outside, she made a straight line for that cow, so fast that the leash slipped out of Brent’s hand and we had to chase her down before the she got inside the fence (it is old and the spaces are big enough that she could easily climb to the other side if she really wanted to). Now remember how scared she was of Samford, Josh and Kristin’s lab? I assumed she would be scared of a cow as well. She barked so much that she scared the cow off. The cow actually ran away. I didn’t know that cows could run. The cow backed up about 20 yards and just stood there staring at us. We were waiting for his next move, having no clue what he was thinking. Brent said, “I bet he’s calling his cow buddies to come gang up on us.” Sure enough, we start seeing cows come from all sides of the farm. It was like a scary slow motion scene in a movie. I was getting a little freaked out and stepped back. The cows just kept coming. There were close to 20 cows surrounding the fence! I am NOT exaggerating. Most of them were all black with a white face…seeing 20 white faces coming towards me at dusk was not a comforting feeling. I asked Brent if cows could jump and he said no. I think he’s wrong…what about the nursery rhyme “Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle, the cow JUMPED over the moon”? The original cow was the leader of the pack. He stood in front as if to protect all the others. He kept turning his head to the side like he was updating his cow buddies on the game plan of how to attack this crazy little creature that was barking at them. I envisioned all 20 of those cows counting 1, 2, 3 and jumping over the fence and chasing us down to the ground. That is not how I want to die–getting mauled by a herd of cows. Our little rat terrier kept us safe. She never stopped her fierce barking. The cows finally got tired and went home. The picture above is one I found on Google Images but it is a pretty accurate picture of the scene Saturday night. www.harkphoto.com/05252004.html
Be on the lookout for another blog in the series “If I Only Had Blog” this week.
A Merry Heart 
THIS IS FUNNY! I love this story! Sanibel is getting brave! Kristin
OMGosh this was hilarious!! I totally pictured it all, great storytelling. I grew up with cows so I can totally relate, I was a cow torturer, I found alot of my summer days spent thinking of new ways to chase and/or bug my Grandad’s cows…ah old times! Most cows wouldn’t give me the time of day, they saw me coming they would start moving. Even if it was me against 15-20 cows. I could always tell who the nooby cows were, they would be the cows of reason, “Look at him, he ain’t so mean give him a chance!” While they stared at me, doing the same head motions. Then as if an Atomic Bomb went off I would tear down the pasture screaming whatever noises I could muster rendering the cows hysterical, running like crazy….haha!