Mud River

On Tuesday, I went to the Farm Progress Show that was being held in Amana for class. Unfortunately, the two other girls I went with and I chose the worst day to go. It had rained most of Monday and Tuesday morning. So the grass parking lot quickly became a mud pit and the "streets" became what I affectionately call mud rivers. I don't know how it happened but even the paved/gravel roads became mud rivers as well. But besides the sloppy conditions, the show was interesting. I went to an cattle handling demo which featured some new headgates. Before the demo started I asked the guy running it what he thought about Temple Grandin's theory about giving the animal a slight squeeze to calm them down. (You can read about Temple Grandin here or read the Oliver Sacks book "An Anthropologist on Mars".) The guy basically said that he doesn't really agree with it and the effectiveness really depends on the animal, but I noticed both the set up for running the cattle and all the headgates utilize ideas and suggestions from Temple Grandin. And that all the cattle calmed down once they were in the headgate/squeeze shoot. (I highly suggest reading up on Temple Grandin because she is a very interesting person in her advocacy of both animal welfare and autism (she herself has Asperger's Syndrome) and I also suggest reading any book by Oliver Sacks). And I also got to see the World's Largest Boot. So all in all, it was a pretty exciting day.

"I can attest that he came to class complaining of debilitating back pain. He attended three classes and left. He bought no merchandise and complained about the incense."-Yogi Victor

Hank: Can you turn the lights a little brighter?
John Redcorn: No, that's as bright as they go.
Hank: Can you turn the music off?
John Redcorn: No. It's wired to the lights.
(These quotes are from an episode where Hank injures his back, and refuses to go on worker's comp.)