Looking for trouble

“The thoughts of others
Were light and fleeting,
Of lovers’ meeting
Or luck or fame.
Mine were of trouble,
And mine were steady;
So I was ready
When trouble came.”
― A.E. Housman

(a neighboring bull finding the right hole in the fence / Julie Cook / 2014)

Is it true that the grass is greener on the other side?
I know a certain neighbor who seems to think so. . .

When I first noticed the bulls wandering toward this poor excuse of a fence, the fence that is meant to enclose, not encourage escape, I knew immediately they were up to no good.

I’ve written about these neighbors of ours before, these bulls. There are between 30 to 40 bulls crammed into an area that is part woods and part sad looking pasture. The folks which “own” the bulls don’t fertilize the field, and as you can see by the piece meal fence, they don’t invest much in the care of these four legged behemoths.

These poor animals live their lives as two-bit rodeo bulls. They’re loaded up, sometimes weekly, and hauled from small west Georgia town to town showcasing little carnival like rodeos. There is no doubt in my mind that the better part of these poor animal’s lives is the time spent in this poor field. The only good thing in the field is that the bulls are free to roam, interact as only bulls do—which is very loud and raucous. . .with no one poking or prodding them, attempting to ride them, leaving them in some sort of peace.

I fear that if this bull continues pushing through the holes in the fence, reaching for that seemingly more tasty grass on the proverbial “other side”—a thousand pounds of trouble is going to be standing in the middle of the road.

May we all be mindful on this new day to this new week that things are not always greener or better on that other side and that sometimes, if we push our heads too far through the holes of the fences in our lives, the fences which are meant to keep us separated from safety and trouble, trouble may just be ready and waiting—-Here’s to a happy, safe Monday