A Country Girl Story & More Country Girl Ways

I’ve been having so much fun reading through all the entries in my newsletter giveaway. If you got the newsletter, any email in answer to it got you an entry, but for fun I asked people to come up with things to add to my Parting Shots of ways that might prove you are a country girl. And boy, have I been getting answers. That’s wonderful. I love hearing from readers and I especially love when those readers tell me something about themselves so I can get to know them better.

One of the messages about being a country girl came from Kayla.  She didn’t just send me a reason you might be a country girl… She told me a story to prove she qualified. 🙂 I think she qualifies. See what you think as you read her story.

You might be a country girl if…

you’ve ever been chased by a bull when getting up cattle……and had to jump over or roll under the fence. (True story!)

And of course I always have to add more…….my father was a beef cattle farmer. His father was a dairy cattle farmer. My son is a police officer and beef cattle farmer, so I grew up helping each one of these men. My father, my son, my husband and I would go get loads of bread to feed the cattle. I always told people that if I give you a loaf of bread and send you out into the pasture, I don’t like you – because the cows would run over you to get the bread.

So one day I was mowing the grass at my parent’s home and saw a bread bag in the field. That is dangerous for the cattle because they could choke on them. So, we were very very careful when unpackaging the bread. Well, turns out this bread bag had blown into the field from the road (someone threw trash out the window). So smart me (I’m being sarcastic) walked way out in the field and grabbed the bread bag.

I just started walking back to the house and was not thinking. All of a sudden I hear hoof beats, lots of them. I turn around and half the herd is coming at me at a fast run. They had been a good distance away when I ventured out into the field to get the bag. I’m thinking what in the world. Then I realized they saw the bread bag and thought I had bread and they were coming to get it. Fast. Straight at me.

So I started running. I ran as if my life depended on it, and in a way it did, because those beef cattle meant business. I got to the fence and realized that it was a 3 strand electric fence. I had two choices – jump over it, and the top strand was quite high, or roll under and hope I made it and the cows stopped at the fence. Well, this old woman took her chances and dived under the fence and rolled into the yard.

All of a sudden I heard uncontrollable laughter. My teenage granddaughter had witnessed it all and she said my diving under the fence and rolling was the funniest thing she’d ever seen. And yes, the cattle stopped at the fence. And no, I never ever walked out in the field to retrieve a bag again.

Thank you for sharing your story, Kayla. We’re all picturing how fit you must be to outrun those cows and dive under that fence. Way to go! I’ve crawled under some fences now and again, but never to escape a herd of bread hungry cattle.

Then Myrtle sent a great list to prove she definitely knows some things that might prove you are a country girl.

You might be a country girl…
…if you ever washed your hair in rain water you caught coming off the roof.
…if you ever walked the tracks to get to where you’re going.
… If you ever fell asleep listening to the sound of a midnight train.
…if you ever spent the evening on the front porch watching the birds eat leftover bread crumbs from supper. (Just be careful with that bread around Kayla’s cattle.)
…if some of your best memories involve spending the day with the people you love having the best time ever doing things that don’t cost a cent.
…if you ever taken a bath in a metal washtub or used an outhouse.
…if you ever used a wringer washer and hung your clothes on the line to dry.

Myrtle says she’s done all of these and remembering that reminded her of what a blessed life she’s lived. I’m right there with her except for the train memories. I never lived that close to train tracks, but we always washed our hair in rainwater. We loved watching the birds. I’ve taken a bath in a metal washtup and used an outhouse. I washed clothes with a wringer washer for years and hung out those clothes to dry in the solar powered air. And I’ve certainly spent many days with people I love doing things that don’t cost a cent.

I’ll be picking the winners for my newsletter giveaway on Wednesday. Then starting next weekend I’ll think up something fun here to give away a few books. So stay tuned and always, always thank you for reading.

The winner of the Back 2 School Booksta Win Giveaway was picked today and Kathy of Virginia is going to have a busy mailbox for the next week or so since she won 50 plus books.

Do you think it’s hard for a country girl to move to the city or a city girl to move to the country?