Wrinkly Bits
A Blog by Gail Cushman
For the past few weeks, we’ve been watching two young men build a pole-and-post fence around our property. It is kind of a surprise because one delusional day, I decided we needed a fence and Cowboy, who seldom disagrees, said, “Yup, I think we can do that.” I knew when he said WE could do it, he meant WE. Not a fence-building company. Not sons or grandsons. WE as in Cowboy and his sidekick, Gail. I had the good sense to put my foot down. Not in my lifetime.
We looked at a lot of fences, trying to figure out what kind of fence would work, there all almost as many types of fences as there are types of cats and a couple days later, we were driving home from church and I saw these two young men building a fence, and I yelled. “Stop, that’s the fence I want, let’s go ask them if they will build us a fence.”
He said, “We can ask, but I think this should be a Cowboy and Gail project. Besides we don’t really need a fence. And it will probably cost a lot of money.”
I was prepared, “Listen here, Cowboy. Just how much money will it cost when one of us ends up in the hospital, you know, back injuries? Besides, it will class up the place, look more Montana-ish, and prohibit our horses from getting out.”
‘We don’t have any horses,” he said.
Uh, oh, he caught on. I needed a new tactic. “No, we don’t,” I admitted, “but, if we did, a good fence would stop them from leaving.” He reminded me that Montana and Idaho and perhaps other states have “fence out” laws, depending on the grazing district, whatever that is. Anyway, he told me we have rules about fences. It seems fences exist so that wayward animals can’t go into a pasture. They are fenced OUT of property where they shouldn’t be. As odd as it seems, fencing animals IN is not the idea. However, the rules apply only to tame animals, like sheep and cows, horses and goats, not wild animals like deer, elk, and bears. Those critters have no rules and can go wherever and whenever they want. Birds are exempt, too, they have no rules. Also, bees, I’ve recently learned. Bees can go anywhere they want, but it has to be within a three-mile radius. Bees have rules.
Back to the fence, well, first, the fence builders. Fence building is a young person’s job and is a lot of work. They lift and push and dig, providing eye candy to the watcher. I encouraged them to work more slowly, but they didn’t listen. We had a lot of sunny days, but they left their shirts on. Dang. They had something called a Bobcat that moved the poles and posts from spot to spot and some kind of hydraulic posthole digger, that busted up rocks and other debris. Watching them was a great adventure and I gained great respect for people who put in fence. It’s hard work. And the finished project, well, it’s a joy to look at.
They finished today, about five- or six-days’ worth of hard work, spread over a month and the fence is in place. One of these young men was a University of Montana (Grizzly) grad and the other was a Bobcat, Montana State University grad. They worked together and the fence is beautiful, plumb, and square. Cowboy approves.
I’ve been thinking, though, and it seems to me that the International Olympics Committee ought to plan ahead, hire these two young men to begin an Olympic sport, called Fencing. What else? I’m sure it would catch on.
Gail’s books and blogs are on Amazon and her website gailcushman.com She writes under both Gail Cushman and Helene Mitchell.
