Life on the Farm

Last night I was outside enjoying the nice weather. Let me just explain that we have two dogs that are outside dogs and have been for years. While I was outside I heard one dog barking in an odd manner to the point where it didn't sound like one of ours. So I went in their pen and one of the dogs greeted me. The other one was panting and laying by the fence and made no move to come greet me.

When I came up to her (the one by the fence) it was absolutely awful. The smell was so bad and she was in awful pain. She had a tumor for some time now about the size of two softballs on her back leg and it finally burst. As nature would have it with her being old, nature sent in every insect it could find to start the decaying process. She was dying a slow and painful death.

I went to the house and told Hubby to take a look at her and he told me to call his dad and to bring a gun down with him. Living on a farm, you don't let animals suffer and all of them are or have been buried on the property. Everything from cats to horses. Also living on a farm each one of us has a job or role to play in taking care of stuff. My job was to watch the front door to make sure our son didn't come out while this was going on. My FIL's job was to shoot her which I cried when it happened and Hubby's job was to carry her to where they were going to bury her and dig the hole. Also living on a farm out in the country you have to make sure that it's in plastic and that lime is in with it or else in the middle of the night scavenger animals will find it, dig it up and create more of a mess than if you just left the poor animal lying where it died.

I've learned a lot about being on a farm from my in laws and from Hubby. Things I've been sheltered from by living in the county. Not all of it is pleasant but sometimes it is. The things that aren't pleasant are usually just "necessary" that most people take for granted or have someone that they call to take care of it for them. The good things though are really good like having a lot of space between you and your neighbors, being able to walk out in the middle of the night butt naked if you want to, growing your own produce and dairy products and having enough space to make changes if you wanted to. I like living on a farm. I got away from it for a brief period of time and not only did I miss it terribly but realized that I do not like city life and don't think I will ever be able to go back to that.

Am I happy with where I am today? Yes. I asked Hubby that yesterday and he said he was as well. We are going to get fireworks (another plus of living in the country) and we are going to celebrate tonight with our son until Sunday evening!