Fun in Vermont

My Saturday ride along with Moo turned out to be quite an eventful one, as Moo asked me to assist in a surgery. As I've noted before, cow surgeries are done in the barn and the cow is awake (although she does get a local block and is quite comfortable).

So the cow was awake, I was awake, Moo was awake, and the farmer (who say "ayup" so perfectly I wanted to ask him if he got paid by the department of tourism to do it) was awake. Then the farmer was impressed. "Guess you're not gonna pass out," he said in his classic Vermonter accent as I stood to the side of my sister, with one hand partway in a footlong gash cut in the side of the cow, holding the large and small intestines out of the way so Moo could do her work. Eventually I got both hands in there. It was pretty neat.

The large intestines are suspended in a bag, while the small intestines are more free-floating, but they're both pretty slippery and holding them in place was like trying to corral a bunch of kitties, albeit slimy, bloody ones -- but not nearly as bloody as you'd think.

And it didn't make me sick at all. I was more bothered by the cow that shot an arc of manure out as I walked by her, splatting the wall and me in the process. That made me a little nauseous. But not so nauseous that I couldn't have lunch in a cafe filled with tourists (including some yahoo cyclist who kept his bike gloves on while he was eating his sandwich). Moo had a sandwich; I had poached eggs. Moo was wearing a bloodstained shirt and I was wearing poostained Carharts. It was great.