Goodbyes, Running to Dallas, loading stock

Yesterday, somewhere in the mid-after, Jake realized that it would be the very last day he would get to spend on the farm in Bowie. I think he and Mama mourned the rest of the day. They even went to Dairy Queen to try to drown their sorrows in an Oreo-cheesecake blizzard. I think it helped some but the effect had worn off by the time I got home.

In the evening we went out and caught Jazz so Jake could ride for a bit. He ended up riding for the better part of an hour and most of that by himself. We did not let him go too far even though Jazz is about as gentle a horse as anyone could ever wish for. We kept the saddle and bridle on the horse until Victoria had a chance to ride and it was just after dark that we finally let Jazz go back to grazing.

By that time I had started the fire we were going to use for roasting marshmallows and for doing fireworks. Jake and I started the roman candles before Mama and Victoria were through messing with the horses and neither the horses nor the women reacted well to the light and explosions. Everything calmed down pretty quickly but it got a bit testy for a few minutes.

I did not get to bed until late and Mama was much later since Jake came over several times for little things. Mama was concerned she would have to sleep over at the trailer to keep him satisfied but I woke up beside her this morning so the two of them must have worked it out. Today they will pack him up and head for Dallas Love Field to send him home. I can only imagine the goodbyes he will have to say to the animals on the farm – five dogs, three pigs, twenty plus chickens and two horses. He had better start early.

Mama is going to meet me in Decatur on their way to Dallas so she and I can sign papers to make a formal offer on the house on Hwy 730 here in Decatur. It is an offer that may be quickly refused but I wanted to get that clear rejection before going further on any other property. We should know by tomorrow.

I think Peggy and Victoria are both going with Mama for the trip to the airport. Peggy has already suggested that they find a good place to shop while the traffic dies down since Jake’s flight is right at 5 pm. I am pretty sure they will beat the traffic there, but there will be no way to beat the “rush hour” traffic after they wait for the plane to pull out.

Meanwhile I hope to be getting the stock trailer positioned to load the three steers we are taking to sale tomorrow in Wichita Fall. We are going there because it is an easy trip from Bowie and the price we get on Holstein steers is about 30% higher than we can get here in Decatur.

When we have beef steers we will come to the closer market, but not for this run.