Mounting fear, losses, trading and travel

As the days continue to tick by I have to deal with a building dread of the inevitable – that I will not have this job for more than a few more weeks. I know the Lord will take care of me and Mama but it is nearly impossible to detach myself from the worry that comes because of the uncertainties such a life change brings about. It makes it, though, not exactly difficult, less exciting to come to work as I and those around me wait for the official word on each of our respective positions. Some of my coworkers are very discouraged and it is difficult, while sympathizing with them, to avoid crawling into that hole with them.

Yesterday, as promised, Camille brought the guineas to Mama. She had two that were only a few days old and one that was much older – maybe several weeks. Mama took them home and searched the house for a good place to put them, finally selecting the bird cage we have from the parakeets Victoria had once had. It seems to be working out well for now.

The sad part of that news is that after Mama got back from a quick run to the grocery store one of the baby keets was dead. We do not know if the heat of something natural got to it or if it drowned in the water dish Mama was using for them. She found it in the water and was terribly disappointed to have lost one. We are hoping Camille will find some more over the next few days or weeks – but not too many.

Rain and cooler weather are upon us this morning. I drove to work in forty mile per hour winds as the storm approaches. It is rolling down off of the high plains and seems to be carrying a pretty good punch with it. People are already talking about a very hard winter ahead and they could be right, but it seems far too early to get too worked up over. None the less, I have made a mental note to get busy on some prep work I can actually get done right now.

Mama called Wayne Berg yesterday evening. He has been letting Daisy May run with his bull in the large pasture adjacent to us and Mama is interested in getting her back. While she was stewing on that the other day she asked if we should ask to trade our little bull for one of his little heifers. It would be a swap in his favor since the little bulls sell for more money than the same sized heifers but we need to build a herd and right now we do not need a bull.

It would save us the trouble of shopping around for a heifer. We are in no particular hurry to grow the herd and I am in no particular mood to travel across the area in search of a heifer we can afford. He is thinking about the offer and will let us know soon. In the meantime he is going to get Daisy loaded and returned. Mama is a good “horse trader” – West Virginia born and bred – but we will have to wait to see if she pulls this deal off.

Speaking of West Virginia, Grandpa got an all clear report from the doctors he is seeing there. That leaves his current persistent weakness without any clear diagnosis. Neither he nor Grandma is pleased with the brush off. In light of that he is planning to come back down to Chico the middle of next month.

Sooner is far better than later.