Cowboy!

Calves in the parking lot!

When we prepared to move to Germany we learned that BFA, the school’s acronym, also stood for Be Flexible Always.  That understanding has proven itself valuable over the past twenty months we have been here, but never more than this morning.  And this morning had nothing to do with the school!

I looked out our bedroom window soon after breakfast to assess the rainy weather.  We had planned a trip to the Recyclehof, and I was hoping for clear skies.  My gaze was drawn to something in the Bahnhof parking area that did not compute.  Calves were grazing in the grass and meandering toward the main street of town. 

Owner to the left, calves in the middle,
Smitty blocking the escape

“Smitty, come quick.  You have to see this!”  As he arrived, the calves were clearly headed for what traffic there is on Saturday morning.  Smitty said, “I have to go down there.”  The Kandern maintenance team drove slowly by as they cleaned out the sewer openings, and the noise they made spooked the calves back the way they had come.  Whew!   Smitty refused to return, instead walking out to be closer to calves.  Both Smitty and an SUV arrived in the parking lot at the same time.  A couple jumped out and tried to contain the calves.  I still wondered where the calves belonged. 

A view of the action

My view from our bedroom allowed me to watch as the calves roamed back and forth until the man, woman, and Smitty had them “corralled” and quieted.  What on earth were they doing down there?

Open-bottomed corral with calves

Soon a tractor arrived, with an open-bottom corral.  Once backed into the area where the calves were standing, the gate was opened and the three wanderers shooed into the corral.  The gate was secured and, after handshakes and congratulatory laughter, the farmer drove his calves back to the farm. 

When Smitty returned to the apartment he informed me that the calves had been wandering since 1 AM!  Neighbors had been calling the farm (they were from the bio-farm which is just over the hill), but the farmers couldn’t find the calves until this morning.  And they might not have captured them had Smitty not followed his intuition and gone to help.

Walking the calves back home.

Being a cowboy was far from our minds when we arrived, but now Smitty can add that job to his resume!