Occasionally, I am reminded of what very different life I lead. This weekend was a fun example.
On Saturday Dante and I joined our friends for afternoon tea at SweeTeas in San Mateo. SweeTeas is a tiny, quaint tea shop in a tiny, quaint courtyard off of 25th Avenue. The food was delicious. They served the usual of scones and cucumber sandwiches, but they also served ham sandwiches on Panettone. It was an appetizing blend of sweet and salty tastes. They also served mini Baked Alaskas. I had never tasted baked Alaska before and I enjoyed the new experience.
The group I had tea with included four of the busiest women I know. It was such a treat for us all to sit down together and enjoy each other's company without interruption. I look forward to our next tea date.
Sunday was a whole different type of fun for me. As I have mentioned before, my dad is a bona fide cowboy. On Sunday, Paul, myself, Kevin (Budget Savvy's managing editor) and our friend Jesse joined my dad in Mariposa, CA to help out at his friend's cattle branding.
I had helped to brand cattle before, but hadn't participated in anything like this. The brandings I had attended previously were done with the help of chutes: where a calf is run through a chute and placed in a "squeeze". The squeeze is a chamber that closes in on the calf immobilizing it so you can easily access the head and other parts of the calf.
Well, my dad's friends like to do it the cowboy way. Approximately 20 calves were placed in a corral at a time. There were 3-4 cowboys (including my dad) mounted on horses. One would rope the head, another would rope the heels. There were about eight of us on the ground and we would take turns working in teams taking the roped calf to the ground. We then removed the rope from its head placing it on the front hooves so it was easier to control; "relatively" easier to control.
One of the fun parts of this scenario is having 20 calves in a corral, 3-4 horses, eight ground crew, plus four crew working the branding, castrating and vaccinating. There was a lot of running around and getting the heck out of the way. It really did add to the fun.
I'd also like to mention that I use the word "calves" loosely. Tony, the owner of the ranch admitted that they were 4-6 months late in branding the calves this year because of the weather. These animals were BIG.
Everyone had a great time. We cared for approximately 40 calves total in about a four hour time period. The greatest compliment we received was from Tony who said "You are good workers. You are welcome to come back next year." We all agreed to come back again and with any luck, the calves will be normal sized next time.
Instead of talking about what a diverse weekend I had, I should clarify and say it was a perfectly balanced weekend for me. I enjoyed the opportunity to have a very girly experience with one set of friends and I enjoyed the opportunity to be outside, wrestling cows and spending time with my dad and another set of friends. It was the best of both worlds.
* The picture is of Paul (in red) and Kevin (in purple) working to get a calf down.
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