Old Friends

I was folding some laundry and while folding a towel I remembered something from a few years ago. As I get older there are more different and even random things that remind me of something that happened in the past.

A few years ago Cheryl announced to me that she had purchased new bath towels and that she was throwing away the towels that we were presently using. I was not happy. There was one particular old towel that was my favorite. I would use a different towel only while my “best” was being washed and dried.

Granted the old towel did look a bit scraggly and tattered, but that towel and I were best friends. Losing it was not easy for me. The day came when a new towel appeared on my rack, and my old friend was gone. Now I did not experience separation anxiety, and I did not cry. I did fuss at Cheryl again. But my favorite towel was gone.

It was, indeed, like losing an old friend. Now for you old friends out there, I am not comparing you to an old towel. I am saying that I have lots of old friends and all of them are not of the human species. I recently said goodbye to a cow that was an old friend. Her name was Sablaga which in the More’ language means black. She was born on our farm 12 years ago and had delivered 10 calves during her time at Ton Tenga. She was old for a producing cow, and she was having trouble walking. When I sold her she had her number 10 calf by her side, and it was a healthy little steer calf, so she still knew how to take care of her offspring.

We have a Great Pyrenees dog that lives in the pasture with our animals, and I love her, and she does a great job of protecting all our animals, but she has not yet attained the honor of being one of my farm old friends. We also have a yard dog named Meg, and she is only good at wagging her tail at anyone who comes on the farm.

Boss is another old friend. He was passed on to us 12 years ago from our son-in-law because he was not a good house dog. Boss has served well as a yard dog at the house. He hates deer, and we have a plethora of them that like to approach the house where they feast on our two apple trees, daylilies, blackberry bushes, hostas, and other delicacies.

As for a deterrent to anyone with criminal intent, Boss would not get a good grade. Of course, now he is old, so why should he get out of his bed (heated in the wintertime!) to greet the UPS delivery truck. Interestingly, he does get up to greet the less frequent visits of the FedEx truck because that driver always gives him a treat.

Every afternoon I get the Kubota side-by-side out of the garage and drive down to the barn to feed all the animals, get the eggs, and get the mail (our mailbox is 0.4 mile down our drive). Every afternoon Boss gets out of his bed no matter what the temperature is or what kind of precipitation is coming down, and he climbs up in the Kubota with me. However, since he is getting so old in dog years, he is not as perky as he used to be.

Boss’ place is in the floor on the passenger side, but some days Boss will just sit there staring at me as I sit in the driver’s seat. He cannot get his body to jump up in the Kubota. He will raise a paw on the floorboard’s edge and rock his body, but he just is not able to make that 18-inch jump. I have tried to help him, but he whines because it hurts his achy joints. On those days I have to leave him behind.

My old friend, Boss, and I have a lot in common. We have reached that point in life when we can’t do everything that we formerly did. I totally understand Boss’ stage of life. I am there! On some days I don’t feel like getting outside and doing my chores, but that is my therapy, and I know it is good for me. Plus, once I get going, I love being with the animals and doing my chores.

The adage “Old friends are the best friends” is so true. They are not the ones who only like you for what they can get out of you. They are the ones who love you through the hard times, who support you when you are hurting, who love being with you no matter what life stage you are in, and who are always there for you.

Here’s to old friends—the human ones and the other kind, too!