Timing is Everything

Being in the right place at the right time can be staggeringly important. 

Last night I was having a lively discussion on the phone with my mother, and standing on the deck grilling chicken breasts for lunches the next day.  (I love talking with my mother, as she is both insightful and amusing and shares her experiences so freely!)  The chickens were settling in for the evening, and the mosquitoes were beginning to rise.  I couldn’t wait for that darned chicken to finish cooking, so I could go back inside.

The goats were being chased by Penny, and came tearing into the barnyard from the pasture, when Chester jumped into the feed tray that is in front of the stanchion located out there.  I turned back to the grill to turn the chicken over, when I heard a distressed sound from the barnyard.  Chester had managed to break through the bottom of the tray and was dangling out of it by one leg and crying pitifully. 

After an expletive (probably – I don’t really remember what I said, but knowing me it was probably colorful) I tried telling Mom I’d call her back, and thought I had ended the call before SHOUTING to my husband as I ran off the deck “BILL!  GET OUT HERE! I NEED HELP!!”  Out of all that, he only heard “Help”.

I was to the gate, in my jeans and slippers, trying to stuff the phone in my pocket when Chester managed to free himself and walked away as if to say “You saw nothing.  Nothing to see here.  Move along.”

Bill grabbed his boots and was out with me – Chester was checked over, and seems fine.  Bill removed the remnants of the tray while I went back to the chicken and realized that my phone was still in my hand.  And still on.  Poor Mom had to listen to all that!  We discussed the event without re-using the phrase “If there’s a way for an animal to get hurt, they’ll find it.”  J

I can almost guarantee that if we hadn’t been home, he probably would have been hung up much worse and ended with a broken leg or something. 

Tonight we will replace the tray with a sturdy 2x4 base and look (again) for any other spots of potential danger.  And we’ll be glad once again that we were home when it happened.