Mud & Sun

I had the 4:00 am heifer check this morning.  I checked the thermometer in the kitchen window. . .37 degrees.  Thinking it should be somewhat frozen or at least firm, I backed the pickup out of the carport.  Swinging open the pasture gate, I thought it looked wet.  But, Bruce had said he'd driven out in the pasture yesterday morning, so in my sleep haze, I pulled through.

My big mistake was not gunning it through the little ditch.  How loud is a stuck pickup at 4:00 am?  I only hoped Bruce couldn't hear me & open the back door shaking his head. 
My options?  High 4-wheel drive & rocking reverse & forward---nothing but mud flying.  OK, I thought, Option 2.  Low 4-wheel drive and gun it!  If I went fast in reverse, I would take out the gate.  If I went slow in low 4, I might be able to circle and get through the little ditch. . .if I didn't take my foot off the gas.

Navigating out the gate, tires full of mud and no sign of life from the house, yet!  I might not have been discovered.  Up the lane and turning onto the road, I could hear the mud flying off the tires.  Turning around in Dickerson's lane, I hit the spot light on the calving pasture.  Of course, most of the heifers were in the middle of the pasture barely visible in the spotlight's glare.  Nothing seemed to be calving, so back to the house.

Thank heavens for coffee pots with timers!  Hot coffee in hand, I started to read my Magnificat devotional.  Hearing Bruce get up, I thought I would just mention nothing looked like it had started to calve and bypass the explanation of how wet it was last night.  Or, I could say "I guess it must have rained last night" and leave it at that.  Thinking I would just not say anything about mud, I had a second cup of coffee.

As the dawn illuminated the pasture gate, the unmistakable marks of mud ruts and large "cookie" circle gleamed in the pasture. . .BUSTED!