By Julie Carter
The commercialism of February has painted the world with red
and pink hearts and accented it with chocolate. Dollar signs float through the
air like the sugar plum fairies of Christmas.
Some will attest to the theory that Valentine’s Day was
invented as a clever ploy to stimulate the economy in an otherwise financially
sluggish time of year. Greeting card companies, florists, jewelers and
chocolate manufacturers flourish because of it.
Valentine’s Day advertisements, even locally in a rural part
of the world, promise evenings of lasting romance and adoration if you will
just come dine with them for only $175 a couple. I don’t believe too many
pickup trucks will be leaving the ranch for that offer.
However, the ranges of ranch country will not be without
their own brand of romantic gestures. It
may not be wine and roses but a cowboy on a Valentine’s Day date will offer his
heart’s delight a romantic late night walk through the frosty pastures for a
“just once more” check of the expectant heifers. After all, it is calving
season.
A memorable demonstration of “true love” at the ranch
happened some years ago. The rancher left home in the morning as usual to go
make his rounds feeding cattle and checking waters. His faithful sidekick
Lilly, the obedient and adoring Border collie, was pleased he was going alone
because that meant she got to sit up front and ride shotgun in the feed pickup.
Quite a distance into the feed route and miles from the
house, the rancher happened to catch a glimpse of something in his rear view
mirror. He stopped the pickup and walked to the rear only to find one of his
wife’s beloved chickens on the back of flatbed pickup.
At this point in time, this man had many options before him,
none of which would have been good for the chicken. Most men would have, at the
very minimum, denied all knowledge of ever seeing the hen and more than likely left
her in the pasture to the natural order of the food chain in the wild. Chickens
usually rank pretty low on the compassion scale for most.
But knowing how much his wife adored her birds of all kinds
and especially her hand-raised chickens; he gathered the hen up and put her in
the front of the pickup on the seat between Lilly and himself.
To say Lilly was indignant and completely insulted is a
complete understatement. She turned her head, nose in the air, and stared out
the passenger window the remainder of the trip trying to her best to pretend
there was NOT a chicken in seat next to her.
The rancher finished his feed route and returned home a few
hours later with the hen nestled tight against him for warmth. The sight had to
be one of those rare moments none of
us actually ever see. The visual of this guy driving down the road with his dog
and his wife’s chicken in the front seat of the pickup is enough to put anyone
into fits of laughter.
It also makes a good “true love” story. Not many, chicken
lovers or not, will miss the depth of the affection it took to agree to cozy up
to a chicken, even for the little woman.
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