A Better Sister Story

My sister recently read my blog archives and mentioned that she comes off as an animal killer and that I should write something nice about her. So here is something nice…

When we were living on the farm we each raised a yearling calf starting in the spring and then we would sell them in the fall. Every evening the calves would come up to the barn and we would feed them grain to supplement the grass they were getting in the pasture.

One evening we went out to the barn and Diane’s calf was the only one there. We hung around a while and my calf never showed up. The next morning my dad and I went out looking in the pasture, down through the woods, and over to the county road that bordered one side of our farm.

We found the calf dead in the pasture about 25 yards from the road. Someone had shot him for sport. Had it been someone jacking deer or needing food for their table they would have taken him. He was not far from the road and it would have been an easy drag. But they did not take him – they just left him. It was a waste.

My sister, Diana, felt sorry for me and at the urging of my parents she split the proceeds of her steer with me that fall. It was a sweet thing to do.

I used my portion to buy a black Shetland pony which she enjoyed riding as much as I did.
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I walked again last night - two miles as soon as I got home. No time to rethink the wisdom of it or get relaxed. Just go home and put on my sweats and walking shoes, stretch in the drive way and start walking.

At first it’s hard to get started but then as I get going I try to beat my time from the previous walk. It is one mile to Lakewood park and one mile back. My best mile out of four miles this week is a whopping 16 minute and 15 second mile.

My goal is to consistently cover a mile in less than 15 minutes, (14 minutes, 42 seconds), by April 1. Right now I am walking every other day to give my out of shape body a chance to catch up.

It helps that I listen to music and sing at the top of my lungs as I walk… now, there’s a pretty picture!