It was ten degrees last night. That doesn’t normally happen in Texas. This morning a three day-old calf followed her mama to get water at the nearest pool. The baby calf fell through the ice. Luckily my f-i-l was out feeding this morning, found her, scooped her up and brought her home.
We dried her roughly with towels, placed her on clean “dog” towels that Princess Lulu unconsciously lent, put new towels under and on top of her and surrounded her with hot water bottles. We had juice bottles left over from Sara’s early winter days in her first dog house (a Dewalt tool box, outfitted with old rugs) so filled them with hot water. The baby calf was then fed warm formula, and is still alive an hour later, nestled by the hearth and an incredibly warm fire in the wood stove.
My father-in-law has had forty baby calves from the herd so far this season. Hopefully this little black icicle will make it. She just stopped shivering, which is a good sign, and she doesn’t have diarrhea, which could kill her for lack of fluids. Next up is electrolytes, probably gatorade with a few extra additions like raw egg.
Makes you think twice when a life is at stake. A lot still matters in my life, like whether I’ll get a second year of Social Security (which I use) and Medicare (which I have yet to use, ever). But lately Americans have been focused on the wrong things, especially in our nation’s capitol.
Here’s my prescription:
Instead of grudges, grievance and retribution, work with Congress to reduce. the price of eggs.
Realize that only a small portion of the population is rich, white and male. Stop catering to them exclusively.
Retaliatory tariffs are a recipe for disaster. Joe Biden left us a good economy. Try not to blow it.
Hatred of people who are different in color, gender or religion are not evil by nature is futile, especially in a country of immigrants. Chances are you have a mother and grandmother, see? Plus hating all women is counterproductive. You probably work with a gay person, and have a Black neighbor. They’re all cool, so what’s the problem?
DEI reinforces anti-discrimination laws on the books for generations. The laws haven’t changed, you’d have to ask Congress to do that and you know it’ll never happen. The laws don’t say you have to lease an apartment or give a job to a differently abled person, just that if such a person is qualified for the job or apartment, they’re in the pool to select them on merit. Get a grip and realize that we ARE a multicultural differently-gendered and -abled society.
Reproduction. Get out of our bedrooms. It’s none of your GD business who we sleep with or if and when we decide to have children. Unless it’s rape or sexual harassment, there are criminal laws to deal with that.
Remove unqualified, un-vetted kids and uber nerd Elon Musk from our personal data at the IRS, SSA, DOH and health agencies. invading personal privacy is gonna come back and get you, especially when you use it solely to target perceived personal enemies of Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
If you thought the left was hell-bent on euphemisms and cancel culture, take a look in the mirror and see what the right is doing with the First Amendment. ‘Nuff said.
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Send your thoughts to Icy The Baby Calf, let’s hope she makes it back to Mama in a day or two and in time provides the ranch with 5-6 babies of her own! Cheers, Dee
Cooking with Dee 