Till the cows come home!

The second big change this year is my dad and uncle sold all of the dairy cows.  I knew they were considering this option for a while but was very shocked when I got a call one Sunday to be told that they were going to be sold the NEXT day.  Initially I was a little sad by the news.  While we all cursed and hated these cows growing up they were such a big part of our lives.  Every Friday growing up we would have to head to the dairy to give the cows fresh straw and during the summer we were frequently in charge of making the sure the baby cows had water each day.  For thirty something years my dad has gotten up every other morning (sometimes every morning) at 3:30 to feed the cows and help milk them and he would return home at night between 7 and 8 at night.  The first day the cows were gone he came home from work at 5 to take my mom to dinner.  That is probably the 1st time in 30 something years that he went out guilt free- without having to make sure someone was there to cover for him.  He definitely deserves this big break.  It also means that he has to stop using the cows as an excuse for never going anywhere.  He would always say, "I'll come visit when we sell the cows."  I think it really was another term for "when pigs fly," or "never." :) Now he has some daughters to start visiting.  Arizona and Virginia are waiting for his arrival!