---

I do my best to live by the philosophy, "Never do today what a person can put off until tomorrow." This has generally served me well, but I must admit a person can get caught occasionally wishing they had not procrastinated.

Last summer, I left a salt/mineral block in the west pasture when I moved the horses to greener pastures. I had good intentions of picking it up and moving it whenever I went by, but always thought I could get in on the way back or on the next trip by. Eventually, the block disappeared and I thought no more about it until I had to go buy the horses a new one. I did notice the deer making a hole in the ground where the block had been and thought I should fill that in one day.

The horses' big round bales of hay are on the south end of the farm, which is not such a logical place to store them when the horses are wintered on the north end. During the fall, I kept thinking about moving them closer to where I would need to feed hay, but, as usual, could think of better things to do.

Last Sunday afternoon, the horses needed a fresh bale of hay. It is about a mile and a half from the horses to the hay whether I go out on the road and around or cut across the pastures. Since the roads were icy, I thought it would be best to cut across country. A couple steep hills lie along the trail I needed to travel. I was sure the tractor would break through the ice on the grass and keep traction better than on the gravel road that looked like polished glass.

Duke, the Mastiff, thought we were off on a wonderful adventure as he ran ahead toward the Top Gate. If I stayed off the path, I could climb with a minimal amount of spinning. Deer ran out of the timber in every direction as we went roaring through. The road from the Top Gate winds through the timber and is rather narrow, so there is no choice but to stay on the path. I noticed going down the hill, the tractor was losing traction. Just as we came out of the timber the tractor went into a full slide. Downshifting did nothing. Putting on the brakes had no effect. The tractor was picking up speed as it slid on the ice that had been nicely polished by the snow. It was then I remembered why a person should not leave unattended salt blocks in the pasture. There was now a hole about two feet deep and four feet in diameter where the deer had dug out the last traces of the salt block. I do not know how fast I was sliding down the hill but the last time I looked, Duke was running in an attempt to keep up. When the front tire hit the hole it sounded like an explosion. When the rear tire bounced through the crater, my head hit the ceiling of the cab.

When the tractor slid to a stop, I was shaking. Duke looked at me like it was great fun to race down the hill. After determining there was no damage to the tractor, other than a dent in the roof, we proceeded with caution to pick up a bale of hay. With more weight from the bale, the trip back was uneventful. Duke and I watched deer moving back to their daytime bedding spots, knowing the noise of the tractor was not going to kill them. I stopped back at the Top Gate, mentally preparing myself for the final downhill run and saw four trumpeter swans swimming in the last remaining acre of water that had not frozen solid. I bet they were regretting putting off their trip south.

The horses were happy to see their fresh bale of hay and I decided I would no longer procrastinate. I will do what needs to be done rather than putting things off. I may wait until next week though to go get more hay.[[In-content Ad]]

---