Will I ever be warm again?????

That was the question looming in my mind yesterday afternoon. I went to the Holstein sale that Rhoda was to sell in yesterday. When I headed out with my neighbors, Bobby and Melissa, it was a pleasant morning with a hint of spring in the air. I had on a sweatshirt and threw my Carhart coat into the backseat, but thought I wouldn't be needing it and in fact wondered if the sweatshirt would be too warm. Shows you what I know. By the time we drove an hour south, it had begun clouding up, and shortly after we went in the barn to check out the cattle, it began to rain and the wind was blowing hard enough to blow anything not tied down into the next county. Boy was I grateful for that Carhart coat....and Bobby and Melissa....lets just say they were colder than me.

I found Rhoda and took this picture of her. She was giving buyers a good look at her beautiful, post-baby body. Wow she lost that baby weight fast. Soon after, we headed to the tent to watch them sell cattle....and sell cattle....and wonder when Rhoda would come through the ring. You get a catalog at these sales, but the order they are listed in there isn't the order they will sell. So you keep track of the sale prices and go back and forth through the catalog, keeping up with the auctioneer.

In the meantime, there was this nice little March calf in the sale. I had noticed her when I perused the on-line catalog a week or so ago. Since Rhoda had a bull calf, Suzanna sorta needed a March calf. The calf came into the sale ring with her momma. They sold her mother first and then the calf was up for bid. I asked Melissa if she thought I should jump in. She said sure, so I gave the bid taker a nod. That started the adrenalin rush. I kept bidding and when the gavel fell, she was ours. She hadn't been named yet, and we probably won't see her registration paper for a month, so Suzanna went ahead and named her Bella. Here she is, safely tucked into her new home, sporting a calf blanket to keep her snug and warm...she was better prepared than some others I know.

Melissa and I were so cold that when they started selling a batch of Jersey's, we headed back into the barn to see if it was any warmer in there. It was better than the tent, but we were far from toasty. We checked out Rhoda again. Notice here how she is all by herself. That is an indication of how far down the sale order she was.

We went back to the tent, and I paid my bill for Bella. I then noticed that Rhoda was standing in the "next up" position. She entered the sale ring, bidding started and was over before I knew it. The gavel fell, and Suzanna's first show heifer belonged to someone else. I didn't cry. The tears would have frozen on my cheeks anyway. Still I felt a little sad that it was over.

Once she had sold, the race was on to get to the car, and turn the heater up full blast. I think we began to unthaw, but I know I wasn't warmed all the way through until I snuggled under the covers when I went to bed.