I wake up each morning hoping for inspiration. I have another blog that I use to express most of those inspiring thoughts. This blog is reserved for trucking inspirations and that is what I had today.
I awoke today at a very small truck stop. The moment the cold air touched my legs I wanted to curl back up in bed to gain back the warmth I just lost. It was a cold, rainy Michigan morning. The type of morning that begs you to sleep a little longer and snuggle a little closer to your loved one. But, this morning, we are loading at my husbands favorite farm. It is the type of
place that was built for trucks. Wide driveways with an easy turn around and a straight back up to the chute. The farmer appreciates the trucker and always greets us with a smile and funny sarcasm. The best
part of this cattle farm for me is the dogs. They are a motley crew of three. All of them are full of mischievous antics. The "professional" of the trio is a male blue heeler. He is the one that knows how to bite heels, push the cows forward and duck down just in time, as a hoof flies past his head. The next one is a young female lab. She is "apprenticing" as a cattle dog. She gets in the way and, once in a while, she is just too slow and gets the quick end of the cow. The third is a very noble male lab. He is the delegated foot warmer. I will stand by the fence each time we load here and the male lab will come up to me, sit on my feet and lean back against my legs. His head magically lands at the length of my arm so petting him comes natural and effertless. The loading process can be quick and easy or long and troublesome, it all depends on these three dogs. My husband will climb onto the trailer, make sure all of the gates are open properly and give the go ahead to start the loading process. He then will move to the back of the herd to help move our riders forward to load the trailer. The farmer is in the corner, trying to prevent any cattle clog ups. The cattle dog, in all his glory, begins chasing the cows forward, biting at heels, barking at noses and keeping the whole group in order. Looking directly infront of me, I see a problem. The young female lab is in the way. She stops all movement in a flat second. Out of nowhere, the blue heeler will run out of the barn, bite the lab until she moves, then run back to his spot. Finally, the first group of cattle make it into the trailer. Not a minute later I hear " Come on boys, get on the bus", and " lets go kids, whats the hold up", with alot of hoots and whistles in an attempt to provoke the 20 plus cows onto the trailer. What I see infront of me is a young lab, once again in the way. Stopping all traffic from flowing forward at a steady pace. This female lab reminds me of the woman in the car on I 80 that merges infront of the truck, then steps on her brakes, creating a "tidal wave" of brake stepping behind her. Or the man that decides reading and driving at the same time is a good idea until he slows down to 45 mph in a 65 mph zone and all he sees is a truck grill in his rear view mirror. The organized choas that surrounds the trucking world creates a reaction of some sort. We all hope for positive reactions but most of the time the chaos, just like the young lab, creates a chain reaction of potential problems that can be seen as they occur as long as the drivers are all looking in the right direction.