Bathrobe Stories (2 of many) - Frolic

The door to the garage slammed shut behind the two tousle headed children from my previous story, with the exception that this time their hair was slightly better bushed, and they had managed to find pairs of hand-me-down jeans and multi-colored t-shirts before rushing out for morning chores. Mom was sure to dole out punishment if the horses and cows weren't fed before school, and that meant there was plenty of work to be done before eight. The late spring sun was out in force, and a gentle breeze blew down the valley carrying with it the warm smell of plowed dirt and cows. The farmer across the road had only yesterday moved twenty or so head of cows into our pastures to graze in return for some hay from his fields come fall harvest. Some of his Alfalfa fields were directly across the road the plants almost a foot tall, and so dense it appeared to be a never ending bed of soft green.

Excited by the visitors the girls needed no convincing this morning to vacate their beds. The horses were watered, given their grain, and turned out into the back field to roll in the soft dirt. Not wanting to be forgotten several of the barn cats raised their voices and wove among the girl's legs until the food bowl was replenished and backs had been scratched. Not lingering in the main barn the two ran across the yard to the South pasture where Mr. Neal's cows were enjoying the first warming rays of the day. Several of the large reddish Herefords moved to the gate where the girls were arms reaching through the wide horizontal slates in the red swinging metal gate. Their small hands had grabbed clumps of grass on the way over, and now were held palms up as warm wet noses blew puffs of air on their skin, scattering the grass offerings to the ground, and making the girls giggle in turn. The ruff skin on the cows' noses was nothing compared to the sandpaper texture of their tongues as the girls let the long giraffe like tongues twist around their hands searching for some small treat. What could have been an all day affair between bovines and girls ended with a call from the house reminding them that there was work of the paper kind calling. Thus the cows were left for a later time, and two sets of feet raced back into the garage and into the house where mom was waiting.

Settling her energetic pair into language arts mom was finally able to turn her thoughts towards a shower and clothes when the drama of the day began. It all started when from the perfect perspective looking out of the front upstairs window both girls saw several cows meander into view in the front lawn. A quick call for mom had the house in an uproar! The cows had somehow escaped the pasture! The girls; school forgotten took the stairs by twos, and reached the front door as mom was dialing Mr. Neal's number. In her blue bathrobe and bare feet mom stood on the front porch to tell the farmer that he'd best come from his farm over the crest of the hill to help round up the five or six loose animals now trespassing through her gardens. To assist my reader in understanding the necessity of a hasty collection and return of the unfortunate cows to their enclosure, one must understand that half a mile down the road the ran in front of the house was a larger and much busier road. It was with this fact in mind that mom abandoned the idea of changing into something more appropriate, and instead sought out her rubber work boots; pulled on under the famous bathrobe, and joined the girls in herding the cattle. Before long Mr. Neal had joined in the efforts and all but one lonely cow were happily back behind the fence. This singular cow had decided that it would rather see the world then be relegated back behind the fence, and therefore it had set off down the road in the direction of the busy main highway. Mom, animal lover that she is was picturing a hamburger in the making if the poor creature was not diverted from its path. With the help of Mr. Neal and both girls mom started to chase the cow down the road yelling "we have to get it to stop before it gets hit!". It did not take long to chase the cow off the road and into the adjacent alfalfa field where due to the high grass the going became much more difficult. Mom with her bathrobe hiked up to allow her to run through the grass, and us all following behind had managed to get the cow at least headed away from the main road and towards Mr. Neal's barn over the hill. Mind on the safety of the cow, poor mom was in no way prepared for the deer that suddenly leaped from its nest in the alfalfa, and darted away across the field. The height of the grass had completely concealed the deer, but our noisy approach had scared it into flight. Mom taken so completely off guard screamed and almost fell over. So unbelievable was the event, and so hilarious was mom in her bathrobe screaming that Mr. Neal did fall over...laughing. The two girls could hardly breath, as they all momentarily forgot about the cow.

Fortunately, the cow was safely returned to greener pastures, and while it took mom a long time too she also recovered. Thus, the bathrobe participated in another momentous occasion, one that lives down in infamy.