Cattle Call

Do people still take Sunday drives? When I was growing up, my family would often pile into the car for a drive on Sunday afternoon -- up the coast, out into the country or maybe just out for ice cream. Whether looking for a road never before taken or a driving a favorite route, it was something that we did after Sunday dinner when the weather was nice. Stores weren't open on Sunday so there was no shopping. Interstate highways were still in the future. You were lucky if you had three clear TV channels and if you did, there wasn't much on Sunday TV until 8:00 when The Ed Sullivan Show came on.

Yesterday afternoon was such a pretty day after what seems like weeks of rain that we decided to take the dog for a Sunday drive. There are a couple of beautiful cattle ranches that edge the lake nearby. The Bubba likes to go see the cows so off we went down a narrow two lane road through the country to call the cows home. We pulled over, cut the engine and rolled down the window and started calling cows. We whooped and hollered for almost 10 minutes, much to the delight of our beastie boy. The cows think we are insane but they are intrigued and they come very close until the dog joins in and then they all stampede. It is great fun for man and beast. When the dog gets to go in the car and see cows, he thinks it a grand adventure.

After the cows resumed their grazing at a safer distance from us, we decided to run over to the other side of the lake so we headed on north and west a few miles and stopped on the 2 lane bridge over the River Styx. Our River Styx is a real river that connects Orange Lake to Lake Lochloosa.



We were sitting on the bridge when a pickup truck drove up from behind stopping beside us. A couple of good ole boys said howdy and asked us if we liked their cattle.

"Yes, you have some fine cattle there. We often bring the dog up to see them."

"That don't look like no cow dog."

"Ah, but he thinks he's a cow dog. That's what's important."

"Well, we heard y'all clear across the field."

"Hope we didn't disturb you or the cattle."

"Nah, but y'all sure do raise a ruckus."

Pleasantries exchanged, the cowboys roared off in their pickup truck and we mosied on around the lake to the east side where we sipped bourbon and sat without talking while we watched the sunset light up the lake with a gazillion orange and crystal sparkles.