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The Lost Prairie Chronicles #16___________________________________ A Love Affair
The middle of January is always cold in Lost Prairie, and at 5am and 5 degrees this particular morning was no exception. Lyn Bundled up, pulled on her gloves, wrapped her scarf around her neck up to her eyes and trudged to the barn through the deep, newfallen snow. It wasn't much warmer in the barn, but the audible lowing of recognition warmed her heart. Posie was a gorgeous mix of Brown Swiss and Jersey, and her huge, soft eyes watched Lyn close the door, pick up her five gallon bucket, her milking stool and approach her. She shifted, bobbing her head as Lyn gently stroked her muzzle. Posie belonged to Lyn as much as Lyn belonged to Posie. Filling the crib with fresh alfalfa, Lyn added a gallon can of honey oats to the hay and received a gentle nudge from Posie for her trouble. Placing her stool, she removed her scarf and leaned into Posie, resting her cheek against the warm hide. Little puff clouds appeared as Lyn softly breathed into the icy air of the Barn. This was a labour of love, and both seemed to know it. Posie gave Lyn an easy five gallons of milk a day, thus supplying the wide spread neighbors with milk. Spring and summer found Posie out in the pasture mixed in with the horses. She brooked no foolishness from the horses and responded immediately to Lyn's call morning and evening. Winters were spent mostly in the barn or barnyard sometimes standing stock still in the rare patch of winter sun. Snow drove her into the barn, unlike the horses that visited the barn only for their morning grain in the stalls. The horses in Lost Prairie seldom used the barn in even the most inclement weather preferring the sanctuary of the dense Jackpines to being indoors. During certain parts of the winter when it was the coldest it was not uncommon to see them in the Jackpines with a quarter of an inch of ice covering their backs, withers and flanks, walking carefully so as not to crack the ice, frosty moustaches on the hairs of their lips and eyelashes. That layer of ice actually provided an insulation. Yes, Posie did love Lyn and it was reciprocal. Then came that spring when Lyn required surgery.
She subsequently spent five days in the hospital after her surgery and when I drove her to town it crossed my mind........ "What about Posie?" Don't worry. She'll be just fine with you. So I gave it no further thought that morning. That evening I saw Posie enter the barn as was usual. Bucket, stool, alfalfa, grain,..... I was all set, but Posie wasn't. She chewed her alfalfa and swung her head to the rear, peering at me and wondering what I thought I was doing. No Lyn..... no milk. And so it went for the first three days. By that time I began to worry about the possibility of mastitis, but Posie wasn't interested in me or my worries. It was going to be Lyn or nothing. On the fourth day she gave me almost a gallon, but it was grudging and I could tell she was extremely uncomfortable. On the fifth day, a half gallon and so it went for another two days. At this point even Lyn was getting very concerned, but she was due to be released the next day.
Coming home that morning was an experience I'll not forget. I had just turned up the drive from the county road, Lyn leaned out of the window and hollered "Posie!!" From across the pasture, up came Posie's head, a loud bellow of recognition and there she came on the high-run through the horse herd, scattering them in all directions, distended bag swinging left and right losing huge squirts of milk with every swing! I jumped out of the truck, ran to the barn, grabbed the stool and bucket just beating Posie back to where Lyn was standing. Gentle shoving, mooing and jostling Lyn around had me momentarily concerned, but a moment later Lyn had her cheek against Posie's side and was milking a river from her. The rapport between the two of them is something I'll keep in my fondest memories for as long as I live.
P
[ December 26, 2007, 10:03 PM: Message edited by: Pierre St.Marie ]
-------------------- Pierre St.Marie Stmariegraphics Kalispell,Mt www.stmariegraphics.com ------------------ Plan on knowing everything before I die and time's running out! Posts: 4223 | From: Kalispell,Mt 59903 | Registered: Mar 2000
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I am so glad to see The Lost Prairie Chronicles back again!
Love your pen work Pierre~
The Just Stef side of The Moon
-------------------- The Moon aka: Stefenie Harris Moonlight Designs Pollock Pines, CA learnin' somethin' new every day! stefenie@comcast.net Posts: 550 | From: Pollock Pines, CA, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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tremendous writing once again! I've never been even close to living a day of that lifestyle, other then passing through the landscape, but it feels like living it to take 5 minutes & read another Lost Prairie Chronicle!
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That was great, thank you. I grew up next to a farm its been closed for about 15 years now. All who ran it, the owner, his son, his wife, and their best worker George have all died. Now it's scheduled to become an upscale development. I worked from time to time as a kid on the farm and it was a great experience.
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Remember Fury...a boy and his horse? Lyn and Posie, thank you for that.
We used to get our milk from a neighbor. She had this old fridge behind the barn. We'd bring a clean wide mouth gallon jug and leave it on the table and take a gallon from the fridge and leave a buck in the cigar box. Megan would skim the cream and whip up butter to put on fresh bread. I could smell it when I'd turn in our road. Well, the folks with the cow also had a business making these wooden fish boxes for the drag boats to use for sorting. One day Julia somehow pulled the cut off saw and removed three of her fingers. She has not been able to milk since and needed to give away the neighborhood cow. Now they raise Llamas.
-------------------- The SignShop Mendocino, California
Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity. — Charles Mingus Posts: 6718 | From: Mendocino, CA. USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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P, you ought to start writing for a living. I have taken many creative writing classes, written poems (even had one published) and short stories so I can appreciate good writing and structure.
ps. I also milked goats many mornings at 4 or 5 am...summer and winter. Nothing like going from a cold barn into a somewhat warm milkroom, talking to your old goat while she fills a bucket.
-------------------- Laura Butler Vision Graphics & Sign 4479 Welch Rd Attica, Mi 48412 Posts: 2855 | From: Attica, Mi, USA | Registered: Nov 2000
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Thanks, folks.... And Laura, I began writing these for the kids so that they'd have something to remind them of their childhood and where they grew up. Thus far there are 17 of them. I began posting them on a writer's forum that stores everything for me. My Mother has a leather bound set with acetate pages and every time I write a new one Rosemary mails it off for her to add to her book. I have a standing offer to publish them, but it wasn't the reason for writing, so thus far I've declined. Ther will probably be a nominal 30 of them by the time I'm done................. or done in.
Soon I'll be adding to our website with a new section devoted to my Grandfather, William Monigal. He carved the world's largest miniature logging camp.
Two small samples.
The complete logging camp covers an area 11'wide and 82' long. It will probably take a few weeks to edit and upload all of the info, but it should be a fun project for us here in Lost Prairie. The main reason I'm adding him to the website is a real lack of information about him on the net. The only reference I've ever seen is http://www.ironcountymuseum.com/building.html The entire collection was carved beginning in the late 20s and 30s. This is an explanatory excerpt: William Monigal was my Grandfather. A 6' 3" horse logger that knew his business inside out. In the winter one year in his mid 40s he was moving a dray full of logs with his team when the load let loose and a log rolled on him injuring his left leg. The injury was permanent and such that his logging days came to an abrupt end. He went on to carve the world's largest miniature logging camp.
The capsullated story is in the following articles. I'll elaborate later. This one-handed typing is becoming a chore.
P
When they're completed, the Chronicles will also be a part of the website.... and thanks for the compliment.
P
[ December 28, 2007, 05:55 PM: Message edited by: Pierre St.Marie ]
-------------------- Pierre St.Marie Stmariegraphics Kalispell,Mt www.stmariegraphics.com ------------------ Plan on knowing everything before I die and time's running out! Posts: 4223 | From: Kalispell,Mt 59903 | Registered: Mar 2000
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.......... And Rick....... you're really dating yourself! And ME!
P
-------------------- Pierre St.Marie Stmariegraphics Kalispell,Mt www.stmariegraphics.com ------------------ Plan on knowing everything before I die and time's running out! Posts: 4223 | From: Kalispell,Mt 59903 | Registered: Mar 2000
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