Not too
long after the beginning of our rabbit ranching days Carmon had the opportunity
to browse the little towns in Utah, all expenses paid, and make some money at
it, too. One of his friends had
purchased a little neighborhood cocktail lounge and was in the process of
redecorating. The little bar had
attempted an upscale look, which just didn’t fit the neighborhood. Don’s plan was to do it up rustic, with
peanut shells on the floor and old license plates, farm tools, and other junque
around the room and upon the walls. The
job of hunting for all of this stuff was offered to Carmon.
I was very
pregnant with Tunk and couldn’t go far from home, so Carmon loaded the two
older boys in his old pickup truck and headed for Utah. Don paid all of their expenses and sent him
off with several hundred dollars in cash to buy the junque. They came home with a lot of interesting
“stuff” and a full-grown ewe!
Carmon had
that hand-in-the-cookie jar look as he asked me,” Can I keep it,
ma? It just hopped in the back of my
truck and followed me home.” I told him
he could. By that time in our marriage, there was little he did that either
surprised or upset me. I did ask to hear
the story. Apparently, they had just
about finished their sweep and were heading home with their load when Carmon
saw a sign that said: Sheep $25 You catch.
He gave the
farmer a five and a twenty and set out with the boys to catch one of the
sheep. I could almost picture it in my
mind, Beed rushing in on her from one side and Carmon approaching from the
opposite side, with Sess covering the middle ground. I can’t even imagine how they managed to get
a sheep that large into the back of pick-up truck full of stuff,
although I’m sure it somehow involved Carmon and Beed lifting with Sess pushing
on the ewe’s backside. (He had learned the difference between cows and sheep by then!)
The boys
put the animal in the backyard with the pig and the rabbits, which was fine by me. I didn’t have to go out there. The only
problem with the whole ordeal was that they kept the sheep in the backyard long
enough to become attached to it – about 24 hours!
When the
mutton ended up on the table, the boys were okay with it, but Tee had some
trouble reconciling a sheep in the backyard today with mutton chops on the
table tomorrow. The problem was
compounded several years later when Carmon let Tee and Tunk raise two orphan
lambs on bottles. At my request, he took
the animals to the butcher’s when the time came, without any fanfare. He made the mistake, however, of calling Tee’s
lamb by name when the first chops were served.
Tee hasn’t eaten lamb since.
 |
| The Only Lamb Chop Tee Ever Liked! |
© Gebara Education, 2001. No portion of this book may be copied by any method without the express written permission of the author
Picture of license plate wall from www.vintage.johnnyjet.com Picture of 1960 Chevy pickup truck from www.classicoldcars.net
Picture of ewe from www.freeimagesarchive.com
Picture of Sherri Lewis and Lamb Chop from www.growingupgenx.blogspot.com
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