I drove the truck out of the barn as Kimberly walked in with the empty broadcast spreader. I parked the truck in the driveway. When I got out I could hear the sander--and Kimberly--working away on the wood.
It was after lunch time, and we hadn't even eaten breakfast. The day was overcast, damp and cool--perfect weather for throwing together a soup or stew. I was about to walk inside when Hazel started barking. Jack and Claudia pulled into the driveway as Kimberly walked up from the barn.
Jack got out of their car holding a large container of hot, homemade chili. Never underestimate your horsey friends--or their timing. The good conversation and a couple cups of chili quickly chased away the chills.
Kimberly returned to the barn and started up the sander again as I drove the tractor around to the woods at the back of our property. Using the tractor bucket and mower, I drove into the woods and cleared out a small deer feeding plot. I pushed over a few saplings and dead trees and mowed down some underbrush.
I had a large pine selected for my tree stand, positioned so I'd be shooting away from our pastures and barn, toward the surrounding farmland. As a cold afternoon rain started falling, the future steaks, roasts and stews were sounding even better.
We brought the horses out of the weather into what looked like a new barn. The previously grayish and weathered pine boards were a healthy, warm caramel color. The stall doors were a rich, glossy black and the cobwebs were gone from the grid wire that separated the stalls.
The horses examined their stalls and were every bit as impressed as I was, I think.
Kimberly and I went inside to heat up some more of Jack's chili. When Kimberly went inside, Macy came walking up to me.
"You'll be pleased to know the mockingbird got hired across the street," she said.
"Good for him," I answered. "The mornings won't be the same without him. Say, you're a healthy barn cat. Why didn't you just eat him?"
"Do you take me for a barbarian?" Macy responded.
"Couldn't catch him, could you?" I asked.
"No," Macy said.
"Want some chili?" I asked.
"I don't like beans," she responded before sauntering off across the backyard toward the barn.
Kimberly and I went to bed that night with a warming feeling of accomplishment, all our colorful shirts hanging in the closet, and more than a little excitement about being able to sleep past sunrise.
Jeremy Law and his wife, Kimberly, live on a small farm in North Carolina. Read Jeremy's other columns in EquiSearch.com's Humor section.
