I just got a job with the University of Vermont Extension as the Farm Safety Outreach Educator. I won’t start until the first week or so in October and I am looking forward to it. This is a single position for the state, so I will be traveling a bunch to different farms in Vermont. The goal is to assist farmers with disabilities to continue to farm. This program is a grant funded position though the Agriability Program USDA and the Voc Rehab program in the state. Funding allows for 75% of full time or about 28 hours a week. This allows me to continue working up at Davis Hill Farm and will also give me the time to continue to mouse around with spinning, knitting and consulting.
I needed to get a couple of references for the job, so I asked Charlie if he would put in a good word. He laughed at this because we all had just survived a Davis Family Field Trip. Sometimes working in the office at the farm means that you drop everything because a cow is out, or bales need to be wrapped or Tom might need you to bring him a hay wagon.
So Jo Ann and I were busy up in the office and Tom came in all flustered. It was time to milk and there was a cow in the pond. Did we want to go take a picture for insurance and help Charlie get it out, or did we want to start milking. I picked field trip. We had been in the office all day. As we were getting ready to head out Tom then said, ” oh, it’s up at Pete’s, watch out for the bull”.
I did not connect with the latter part of the statement. We just met up with Charlie as he was loading the boat in the back of the truck and headed off.
Sometimes cows or calves will head into a pond for a drink and for what ever reason, loose stepping and drown. Sad, but a fact of farming. The carcass has to be removed or it will spoil the drinking water.
We got over to Pete’s and went over to Charlies truck for a lift up. I turned to Jo, “Did Tom say there was a bull in the pasture?”
“Yes, that is what he said”
“Well, is it a nice bull, or is it mean?”
“Tom said watch out. I guess you had better watch out.”
You got to be kidding me. I am fine working with a ram, even a pissed off one. I know not to turn your back, carry a crook or a water pistol and have a lead line to wrangle him for control or safety. But this was a bull, 10 x the size, and I wasn’t about to pretend that I know how to handle a bull in a pasture.
They all just laughed at me when I said that I would stay in the truck. But I have a strong stomach and Charlie needed someone to help him rope the calf and pull it out. Jo gags just thinking of anything that might smell bad.
So does Charlie. Charlie is a farming kind of dude. But get him near anything that might have a sink, and he is likely to start heaving. So my confidence in his ability to keep that bull away from me while he was distracted from the stink was low.
I was OK getting into the boat, because the bull was no where to be seen. But as we got the calf and was heading back to the shore, the cows and bull decided to come by and see what the commotion was about. This is where I quickly got out of the boat and back into the truck.
Charlie and Jo laughed. I guess I was pretty quick about it. I wouldn’t get out of the truck until we were out of the pasture.
So when I asked Charlie if he would speak on my behalf for the job of Farm Safety dude, he said with a wry grin, ” Well as least we know she won’t get tangled up with a bull. She’ll be hiding in a truck”
