The 10:00 pm check

I slipped on my coat. Looking over, I smiled at Jen* and we stepped out into the night together.

She held the flashlight, and I walked behind her. The air was crisp and cool--it felt like my breath might be cloudy if I could see it.

We glanced at the cows as we walked through them on the way to the corral. Some calves startled and pranced around. They were so cute! But we walked past quickly and entered the corral.

I opened the gate with a muffled "clang" and then closed it after Jen stepped through.

Now began the harder part of our task. We were to make sure that all of the young cows were fine--not having any trouble calving or anything. We walked through the cows quietly. They were mostly lying down or eating at the hay feeder. Jen pointed the flashlight and swung it around the rest of the pen. There was one cow that looked uncertain as to whether it was beginning to calve or not, but we decided it was not.

We climbed up one of the corral fences and jumped down the other side, surprising the milk cow calf. He jumped up and ran to the other side of the pen.

We walked through into the OB barn.

Inside the OB room, we flicked on the light. Warmth surrounded us. Jen handed me the chalk and I reached up and wrote on the chalkboard.

10:00 check. All quiet. SS JS

The check had gone well indeed. And now we turned our faces back to the house. We were ready for  bed.


* name changed to protect identity
**based on a real life happening