Randa (7 page)

“But to answer your question, yes, it was wonderful growing up here. Now how about we ride up to the top of that hill over there?” John said pointing to the south, “and see if we can scout a place for lunch?”

“Great!”

“Wait a minute. I know the perfect spot instead. I can’t believe that I forgot all about it. Come this way,” John said as he turned to the southwest and nudged Ben to take off.

Turning to the west, they crossed over another hill and came to the edge of a wooded area. “Whoa,” John directed Ben. “Let’s leave the horses here,” he said to Randa as he got off his horse.

“Okay,” Randa replied and dismounted Majesty. She copied what John was doing and tied the reins around a tree.

Unpacking the saddlebags, which contained the things they needed for their lunch, John looked over at her and smiled. “How are you doing lovely lady?” he asked.

Randa replied, “This is so much fun John! It’s the perfect escape from work.”

“I got the impression that songwriting is your passion and it makes you flourish.”

Randa laughed, “I love that word John.
Flourish
. Well, my work is my life and there is nothing sweeter than getting paid to do what you love and are good at, but as with most anything, there are drawbacks.”

“What would that happen to be?”

“I don’t care for the business side of it, as in the usual legal and financial aspects which must be tended to properly. Numbers and legal jargon aren’t my forte, creating is. But Taylor finally convinced me to employ professionals to take care of those things, and I’m so glad I did.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that Randa. Things that I don’t know and don’t have the time or desire to learn, I hand over to the pros too. One of the keys to being successful is to surround yourself with people smarter than you, aka the ‘experts’ in their respective fields. Too many people feel threatened by others who are bright, but they shouldn’t as long as they are at the top of their game and taking care of business.”

“You make a great point. It has definitely allowed me the luxury of just getting back to the basics of writing songs like in the good ole days, feeling things in my spirit, my heart and my soul and creating beautiful or fun or dramatic or sad lyrics, whichever it may be.”

John handed Randa the blanket and followed the nearby path, which led into the woods. She followed him closely through the thicket wondering where they were going. While leading the way, John held the tree limbs back, so that Randa could pass by safely and wouldn’t be slapped by them.

John stopped and stood still. “Do you hear it?”

Randa stopped and listened. She heard the faint sounds of water running and smiled. John walked forward. Up ahead lay a creek. As they got closer, Randa could hear the sound of water gently flowing over the rocks. John found a couple of large flat rocks sitting side by side near the water’s edge. “It’s not a grassy spot under a tree, but I thought you might enjoy this spot more,” he told her. Even though tall trees surrounded them, the sunlight was shining down through them, giving everything an enchanting golden glow.

“It is tranquil,” Randa laughed as she spread the blanket over the rocks. “You seem to have knack for picking out serene spots.”

“I guess I do, don’t I?” John laughed. “But that is one great thing that we have in common, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is! There is just something so magical about the things that nature does like water flowing, the wind blowing, lightning bolts striking, thunder roaring, and snowflakes falling. All of these things touch our senses. If we just be still and hear the water bubbling, feel the wind against our skin and blowing through our hair, see the sparkle of the lightning bolt and let it light up our eyes, hear the thunder as it roars, taste the cold pureness of snowflakes as they fall onto our tongues, it can be so wondrous. I enjoy it when Mother Nature exercises her options. The wind is my favorite. When it doesn’t blow, things seem to become stale and stagnant, but when it gusts, it makes things feel alive and fresh! I love to just sit on my back porch when it is cold at night while the wind is blowing hard. I wrap up in blankets and savor the delightfulness of it all.”

Oh how I like this woman!
So many people were just wrapped up in themselves and material possessions. It was too easy to get caught up in stuff and lose your true self. John enjoyed nice things as much as anyone else did, but he knew what the truly important things in life were. Being wealthy afforded him almost anything that he could possibly want, but he did not receive fulfillment from possessing things, he received it from putting in a hard day’s work and being filled with pride at his achievements. Success and an appreciation for the blessing of simply being alive, being healthy, and having food and shelter were the basis of his core. Randa, well, Randa was so full of life. She took everything in with all five senses. She was down-to-earth and yet so polished and so real.

John opened the containers of food and laid them out on the blanket. There was crispy fried chicken, cold macaroni salad, Southern buttermilk biscuits, ruby red cherry pie and sweetened iced tea.

“Goodness, this is some lunch! I imagined that it would be simple sandwiches and the cherry pie,” Randa laughed.

“This is the first picnic lunch that I have ever prepared, so I wanted to do it right!”

“Well, you certainly did!”

They began to eat. The conversation continued and flowed very easily. “What did you enjoy most about the country when you visited your grandparents home?” John asked.

“From their house it was about a quarter of a mile walk back through the woods to get to the Kiamichi River. I would go and sit on the river bank for hours and enjoy the serenity.”

“That’s how I feel when I’m in Alaska. I love the feeling I get being there.”

“Don’t you feel that here too?” Randa asked him.

“Not really.”

“Why? It’s absolutely beautiful here.”

“I think it’s because this ranch reminds me of my parent’s break-up. I don’t really feel a sense of total peace here, though I probably should. It was a long time ago and they have moved forward with their lives. I just don’t know how to explain it,” John paused. “But I can say that I did really enjoy spending the evening with you last night.” John reached over and gave Randa a kiss on the cheek. She blushed and smiled shyly, but before she could speak, they heard what sounded like a cow bellowing, but it seemed to be more of a sickly moan. John didn’t like what he was hearing. Jumping up to his feet, he reached down to grab Randa’s hand. She took his hand and rose to her feet. “Something’s wrong. Come on” he said.

John took off his Stetson and threw it onto the makeshift picnic table. Racing through the woods with Randa following on his heels, he came out into a clearing and looked around the vast green pasture. He saw nothing unusual, so they waited and just listened. John was thankful when the low moan came again. Sprinting in that direction, he and Randa went around a corner of trees and there lay one of his heifers in the throes of trying to give birth to a calf. John approached the anxious animal slowly and knelt down to examine her.

“Oh my goodness,” Randa whispered.

“Yeah. She needs some help badly. I need to try to pull this calf. Randa, do you think you can find where the horses are?” John asked.

“Yes,” she replied.

“Okay. I have a couple of ropes in the left saddlebag on Majesty and there are some various first aid supplies in the right one. I need them. If you could hurry as fast as you can, that would be great.”

“Sure.”

“And if for any reason you can’t find your way back here,” he continued “either just go back to the horses if you can find them or to the spot where we were having the picnic and wait for me. I know that it can be very easy to get turned around and lost in the woods. Everything can start to look the same.” Randa nodded and John rose to his feet and gave her a quick hug. “Be careful Baby Doll,” he added. She looked at him. His eyes were gleaming. Randa smiled before taking off into the woods.

John was relieved that the heifer was lying down and on her right side, so that she could strain more effectively than if she were standing up and walking around trying to give birth to the calf. Also, it would make it easier to pull a calf because gravity wouldn’t be working against him, so he could pull not as hard which would result in less pressure on the calf.

John walked up to the front of the heifer and petted her face. Though her energy level was low, she was young and extremely healthy. The ranch usually had a couple of difficult first calf births each year. Fox generally kept the first-time expectant mothers in a couple of pastures that were close to the barn, but this one wasn’t. John knew that it was possible that the veterinarian had made a mistake when palpating the heifer. Thinking that she was not pregnant or not as far along as she actually was, as advised by the vet, Fox would have missed her and not put her in with the other expectant mothers.

Returning to the back of the animal, John got down on his knees and looked closer. Pulling the hand sanitizer out of his pocket that he brought for them to use before eating lunch, John was now thankful that he still had it, since he had no other way to sterilize his hands and arms. Rubbing it on his hands and arms as well as the heifer’s rectal-vagina area, he closed his fingers tightly together in hopes of not puncturing her reproductive tract when his hand entered her vagina. A lubricant would have helped greatly. He expected that there would be some in the supplies that Randa brought back. He was easily able to identify the cervix. She was not well dilated yet. That would buy him some time. The last thing John wanted to do was rush the process. He just hoped that she wouldn’t end up needing an emergency C-section. Halfway guessing and using all of the previous experience that he had, John thought that the calf felt a bit larger than normal. The heifer moaned as John took his arm out of her body. Standing up, he couldn’t help but to begin pacing. Unexpectedly, Randa appeared a few minutes later almost out of breath and carrying the saddlebags.

“Good girl,” John said aloud.

“I ran as fast as I could and I was lucky enough to find the horses with no problem,” Randa explained.

“You did wonderfully! Thank you!”

“How is she doing?” Randa inquired.

“I checked her a little bit ago and she wasn’t dilated enough yet. But we can get ready and if you would be kind enough to assist me, I think that we will be able to help her. I have never done this by myself, but I helped Fox many times. I thought about having you ride into the ranch to get Fox, but he is at the Oklahoma Angus Production sale over in Shawnee today. So, it looks like it’s just you and me kiddo,” John said with a grin across his face.

“I will do my very best!” Randa responded, not exactly sure what she was getting herself into, but happy to help John and the mama and its baby in any way that she could.

“Let’s open the saddlebags and see exactly what we have. I didn’t check them this morning. Fox just always keeps them stocked for emergencies,” John said. “Oh and thanks for bringing the whole thing. Sharp thinking. I usually think well on my feet, but I seem to be much better at mechanical and electrical emergencies, not the kind of emergency where there is a living, breathing life on the line.”

Randa laughed, “If anything I would be the opposite.”

“Okay, let’s see what we have.” Pulling out a bottle labeled General OB Lubrication, John stated, “I definitely need that.” Scanning the other contents, John told Randa that he needed to feel inside the heifer to determine the exact position of the calf. That would help him to decide their next step. Randa watched as John applied the lubricant to the rear of the heifer and to his arm and hand. Once again, keeping his fingers close together, he slowly worked his way in, taking note that the cervix was almost fully dilated. The heifer bellowed out unexpectedly. Feeling the legs, John gently grabbed onto one and began at the bottom of it. Moving his hand upward, John compared through feeling each joint for joint while looking at the heifer’s legs.

“Let’s see, these are its front legs and there is its face,” John said touching it, “so this is the normal anterior presentation. In other words, this is how it should be positioned inside its mother, so this is fantastic. I’m guessing that the calf is a little bit large for her pelvic opening. Hopefully with just a little bit of assistance from us, she should be able to have this calf and be okay. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.”

“Will do,” Randa replied. “Just let me know what you need.”

“I am going to try to pull it by hand instead of using the ropes. If we can let it happen naturally with only a little bit of help that will be the best thing for both of them.” The heifer had been straining on and off for a while now. John knew that it would be best to follow her rhythm. The heifer started pushing, so John grabbed onto both of the calf’s legs and began pulling, breaking it up into four or five pulls. When the heifer quit pushing, John pushed the calf’s legs back in its mother just a little bit to give it a chance to get circulation back into its head. Momentarily the heifer began pushing again and John began to pull.

An hour later the calf was finally born and out of its mother, but it wasn’t breathing. John had it in his lap.

“Is his heart beating?” Randa asked

“Yes, it is, but if he doesn’t start breathing soon, he will die.” John remembered watching Fox resuscitate a calf once before. Frantically trying to recall the steps, John took a deep breath. It couldn’t be much different that reviving a human being. Closing his eyes and stilling his mind for a moment, he focused on that memory. John knew that he first needed to clear the calf’s airways. Rolling the calf over to an upright position, John saw fluid draining from its nostrils. Waiting for a moment to see if that was enough, John grew impatient.

“Is there anything I can do?” Randa asked.

“No thank you Darlin. I’m just going to try and speed this up or we might lose him.” John put his fingers inside the calf’s mouth and began stripping out the excess fluid. Once he was finished with its mouth, he repeated the same thing in the calf’s nostrils using a suction-like action. After another moment of the calf still not breathing, John rolled the calf over onto its side and fully extended out its head and neck. Covering the calf’s mouth and one of its nostrils with his hands, John blew a full, but soft breath of air into the open nostril. Nothing happened. John once again breathed gently into the calf, careful not to rupture a lung.”