- Bud’s Cows in our Meadow, 2011
We’ve not seen hide ’nor hair of Bud’s cows in Oysterville for some time now. They are no longer at large, wandering through the churchyard or neighbors’ gardens. And, they aren’t visible out in Bud’s creatively fenced fields. (The pantyhose strung toe-to-toe between fenceposts was my favorite!)
As far as any of us here in the village know, the cows are gone. Sold. As in Bud is finally out of the cow business except for the two, mother and calf, that Bud’s wife Sherry has kept as pets. She raised the mom cow from babyhood (calfhood?), bottle-feeding it, and was unwilling to give it up – or its calf. Presumably are not out wandering the village. They stick close to home and Sherry.
Meanwhile, this notice appeared in the paper a few weeks ago in the South Pacific District Court report: Other hearing – Stock at large, Edwin Goulter (that would be Bud) PT (Pre-trial) 1/14/12, JT (Jury Trial) 2/11/12. We are unclear as to whether or not the cows were gone by the time the notice appeared. And, now that they are gone, will there still be a trial?
In the interest of keeping abreast of Oysterville happenings, I called the South District Court to find out. After the obligatory “due to cutbacks” statement, the pleasant automated voice gave me long list of ‘options.’ I determined that I should press number seven on my telephone keypad to find out about trial dates
That, of course, gave me yet another automated voice (actually, I think it was the very same voice) which said that, if I got a recording, she was either away from her desk, on another line, or helping a customer. Fair enough. She went on to say that I could leave a voicemail message but, due to cutbacks, there were no guarantees that my call could be returned. If I wished to speak to a clerk I should call again.
I did call again. Go back two paragraphs and re-read them to find out how I fared. Frustrating! In fact, it’s difficult to determine which is more frustrating – dealing with Bud’s cows or with county cutbacks.
As it turns out, we are heading to Seattle on the 14th for a funeral so we’ll have to find out the rest of Bud’s cow story in the ‘usual way’ – through the word on the street. Easier than dealing with the county and probably just as accurate…
Is the Cottage Bakery still a hub of information, Sydney? I worked there briefly in ’87 and quickly learned that everything you wanted to know you could find out by listening to the conversations of the old timers who gathered there of a morning. Sadly, most of those folks are having their maple bars and coffee in another old, doubtless still gossiping. My mother says that riding the bus is another good way to get information and a nice ride, too. You could do the long loop from Oysterville to Ilwaco and back and probably find out quite a lot, but it would probably cost more than the 35 cents it cost in ’87.
Nope, still 35 cents. Amazing, isn’t it?