• Radical and I
  • NIlla and I

Good morning to the readers and writers out there. It’s a rainy, thundering mess out there today and we are to have a track and field day this morning. That is very much in doubt because of the thunder I hear rumbling around me. NOTE: It was cancelled for today and we’ll plan on doing things tomorrow! 🙂

Anyway, I’ve felt like I have no home base this year. New school, new culture, new teachers around me, so it’s only natural that you get that feeling of where I fit in. I got voluntold to be on the wellness team, but I feel out of place with all these fit people and chunky old me. I do the teacher things, but don’t feel quite at home yet. Nothing bad about it, but I just feel the square peg trying to find a round hole. Between the lack of connections and the fact that my Spanish is pathetic at best, it’s been an emotionally challenging year.

Last weekend, we traveled to Monroe, Wisconsin for a couple of reasons. One of the biggest, to get our camper out and get it back into motion. We’d spent previous weekend dewinterizing it. We flushed the anti-freeze, disinfected the water tanks, and made sure the easy stuff was taken care of inside. The other reason, there was a cattle show and our friends took four of their animals over. When they heard we were coming along, they were overjoyed, because we are all getting older, and they are starting feel the effects of age (they are both a few years older than us).

As we pulled it, there was a comfortability level I’d not felt in a LONG time. We get looked at funny as we have no Brown Swiss on our little acreage anymore, so last year, my wife showed a lot and I eventually ended up in the show ring as well.

This year, we both have our white pants (those showing dairy wear white – don’t ask me why), our “fancy shirts” and our old beat up pairs of show boots, and we’ll lead the Swiss in almost all the shows this year. They are cutting back because of the bird flu (another post altogether) so it may only be three or four times total, but it was pretty dang fun being out there. No, we won no prizes (“the big boys” were there, whoever they are”) but we had a blast laughing and talking and just being us.

My wife says next year will be easier in school, and for the most part, I believe that. Every year will be more chances to make my classroom more like home to me. However, it was amazing how much being around the cows and cow people felt like home.

Who knows, maybe we’ll get a couple of our own.

Naw. We like our freedom a little too much now! 🙂