Rickety Barbed Wire

Since we've lived here, there has been a rickety old barbed wire fence that decayed steadily. Finally, it rotted to the point that our neighbor's cows could easily crawl through it. It's not unusual for there to be one or two fence crawlers in a herd of cows, but when twenty or more cows are out everyday, the situation gets tiresome. When the bull got out, the situation was worrisome.

The cows stepped on our sprinkler system which flooded our garden, diverting all the water out of the house. We spent most of one summer herding cows down pasture with our four-wheelers. Soon, they would be trotting back. I guess they were bothering our neighbors the Wheelocks who returned them to us every time we pushed them Wheelock's direction.

We explained the livestock situation to the owner. After reporting cows at large two or three times, he got hostile. I was ready to say, "Fine. Next time your cows get out, I'm not putting them back in. They can wander down to the highway for all I care." But patient Wilbur kept putting the herd back in and talking to the owner who accused us of "harassment" and stretching the barbed wire so the the 80 year old fence was no good. I know the cattle owner's family had a death in the family that summer. Maybe he was stressed out and that was why he ignored the rotten fence posts and brittle, rusted barbed wire in favor of an, "it must be all YOUR fault" approach.

So when the guy FINALLY did put a new fence in last spring, I resolved not to so much as breath on the new barbed wire. I did not even consider lifting the wire to get through the fence for my walk around the loop with Max the dog. This meant I had to lay flat on my back and scoot under the fence so as not to touch the barbed wire. This method is cold in the winter and muddy in the spring. It also led to corner tears in my helium jacket and dirt and grass in my hair. Max, the ungrateful hound had no appreciation for my sacrifice.

Never fear, help was just a few nails away. The problem solving Wilbur built some stairs that go over the fence. No stretched barbed wire, no snow up my back, no torn helium jacket. Hurray!