Tommy | Life on a Colorado Farm

Hey, Fuzz…don’t ya just love this moonlight? Makes me want to sit up and HOWL!!

Don’t do it Boom, we are in the house.

I know but it’s filling our bed spots with so much light I can hardly sleep. Makes me want to let loose and join it with the coyotes!!

Aaaaaa, Boom! We are right next to Mom do you want….

UM no…I won’t. But it sure makes me happy!

I know Boom, it does. Now go to sleep.

Okay, Fuzzy, I’ll try!

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HEY FUZZY! WAKE UP!! IT IS MORNING!!!!

Hmmmmmmmmmm, ufff, snort! Oh, yeah it is!

Morning, Boomer!

Morning Fuzzy! Mom has breakfast ready; come on the day is wasting!

Sigh

Stretch

Sigh

Okay, Boom.

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Hey, Tommy! What ya doing?

Looking for small springs of green stuff to eat. How ‘bout you?

Oh, just hang’n around smelling everything that moved through the yard and the corrals last night.

You and Mom and Fuzzy went by the poultry house. Mom stopped and checked on all of us.

Yep, Fuzzy was with Mom, but I had already moved over to the cattle trailer and the car hauler.

Oh…that’s why I didn’t see you.

Right!

Oh! Hi, Sam! What’cha doing?

Hi, Tom, just checking out what you and the birds are up too. Where is Fuzzy?

Over by the trash cans…he said he wanted to see if any mice were up and about.

Where’s Mom?

She’s cleaning around the corrals while Dad goes down to Hank’s and his kids’ house to work on their yard light.

Oh!

Hey, Tom!

YES……………drummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, fluff.

Want to walk out to the grain bins and check out the weeds there? Just might be something, even if it’s just cheat grass.

TOMMMY LOOOOOOOOOOOK OUT!!!

WHEW! Dad just drove into the yard. You can’t walk sideways Tommy on the road; you are too slow when you walk that way.

Well, I just wanted Dad to see how pretty I am. I really like Dad the best, you know. I try to follow him everywhere and help him in all the sheds…I knew he was coming down the road…pout, pout.

“Tommy! You scared me! You can’t walk sideways on the road. You are just too slow.” said Dad as he came over to give Tommy a pat or two.

Well, I guess everything is alright. I’m alright, Fuzzy is alright, you are all right Sam, the hens are okay.

WHERE IS BOOMER?!!

BOOMER ARE YOU OKAY?

Yeah, I’m just leaving a mark for Hank.

WHIZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

“BOOMER!!!!!!! YOU STOP THAT RIGHT NOW”!!!! yelled Dad.

Slink off…mutter, mutter…geez I just wanted Hank to know this was my pick-up.

Boomer

Fuzzy?

Hum, yes!

Did you get a look at the book Mom is reading?

Ah, clear throat, hum, no…No I have a hard time seeing anymore.

Well, it’s called — The Great Turkey Walk http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1154350.The_Great_Turkey_Walk

It’s about herding turkeys from Missouri to Denver, Colorado, in the year 1860. That seems like a really long walk to me, Fuzzy.

It does to me also, Boomer. I can’t imagine walking so many miles with a bunch of turkeys. Geez, just walking with Tommy is hard enough!

He never walks straight on…always sideways. First one side then the other side—- takes FOREVER for him to get anywhere. He spends all his time fanning his tail feather here and there and everywhere.

Yeah, Fuzzy, then he hangs out with you until we all come back.

True! But we do have some interesting times together. For instance, just yesterday, while you were out sniffing around in the corn field, Tommy and I had a conversation with Sharpie.

Sharpie…the little hawk that hangs around the wood pile?

Yes, that Sharpie!

He was very interested in a couple of mice that had fled under the trash can when I came upon him. Since I like to chase mice (and snap them in two, mind you) I decided to hang out with him for a spell.

We were being very quiet both of us watching the hole where the two mice ran under the trash barrel when Tommy came gobbling up. Tommy is NEVER silent, you know that don’t you, Boomer! He always has something to say.

Up he came jabbering and hollering to me that he wanted us to go do something, anything, because he was tired of hanging out with the hens. Dad was too busy in the tractor shed and he couldn’t find you so he decided that I would have to do.

I kept trying to hush him up…I put my paw down several times in the hush manner, I turned my back to him…I tried to whisper really loudly to SHUT UP! But he kept on gobbling and drumming and walking sideways, just being outlandish!

Sharpie flew off the fence rail up to a branch in the weeping willow tree; just sitting there in disgust. We both knew the mice were NOT coming out with all that noise going on.

Onward and onward came Tommy yelling loudly for me to come do something with him…Please, could we go down the lane a bit, or how about over to the corrals, or maybe out by the grain bins…Sharpie got so disgusted he dive-bombed Tom!

SQUWACKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!

Have you ever seen a turkey poke his neck clear into his chest!

YEP! That is exactly what happened! Tom looked so shocked that Sharpie would dive-bomb him that he buried his head and neck right into his body — flung his wings way up in the air and tried to cover his rather bald head!

He looked so funny I LAUGHED OUT LOUD!!!!

I didn’t know where Sharpie went; he wasn’t there when I stopped laughing. But you know what, Tommy didn’t even get upset. He was such a good sport I told him we would go off to corrals to see what was out there!

While we were walking out to the corrals Tommy told me that he would really, REALLY, he means REALLY like to live inside with us. He said Mom could hang a rack up next to our beds and he could sleep and poop right there by us.

Ahhhhhhhhhh, hummmmmmm, Well, I told Tom, I really don’t think you would like to be inside…it’s ummm hot and there are cats and the girls in the poultry house would miss you.

OH! Yes the girls! He said he had forgotten all about the girls…he guessed he had better stay out there and watch over them.

Ahimmmmmmm, I cleared my throat. Maybe that would be best, Tom!

OH! Bark, bark, WOOF

HOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Shannon’s here and our Dog Cousins! COME ON BOOMER!!! COME ON TOMMY!! DOG COUSINS!!!

Gobble, gobble, gobble….MY REAL FAMILY IS HERE!

“Come on, Tommy!” Shannon and Mom hollered, “Let’s go for a walk!”

Come on Tom…you can walk with us as far as Fuzzy goes, growled Choco the Rottweiler.

Okay…just to the gain bin field. I’ll hang out with Fuzz for a bit, and then I really must get back to the girls!

Drummmmmmmm, thummmmmmmmmmmmmm, gobble

That works for us Tommy…let’s all go!

“You know something, Fuzzy?”

No what, Tom!

“I really don’t mind staying over here for a while. My Mom says I’ll be back over at my real house come this spring. Until then hang’n with you and Boom is a really good thing.”

Oh, Hi Boom, you back?

Yeah, my knee doesn’t let me go far. Mom and I just walked to the new alfalfa field and came on back.

Yummmmmmmmmm, num, num chew, slurp…..

“BOOMER!!! BOOMER!!! Stop eating the Turkey poop!!” Mom hollered.

Geez, Boom, sometimes you really aren’t very smart.

Fuzzy