Is this You?

Buffalo Sprinkler Style

Every season brings to life full blown baskets of choices of fun things to do. Of course each season has a truck load of work to accomplish too. I however cherry-picked only fun things this past week. I was paid back in a wonderful sight that I will play back in my mind for years. No, as my friend asked I didn’t video it. Had I had my phone I still wouldn’t have had the desire to stop watching what was happening before me to grab a piece of plastic and look at the sight through a screen. Nope I like to watch stuff in full view, as it happens. If I can’t explain what I saw with happy in my voice and words that excite the story—well I guess it wasn’t really all that and the bag of chips I thought it was. But this was. It was amazing and here is what was presented to me, just me and the air around me.

I don’t run, I walk. My knees and I are not runners, we have become very contented walkers. I can see things better as I walk. If I were to run the gasping of air making my eyes water would surely distort my view. I go west on my walks because the wind usually blows at my back giving me a little push on the return trip home. But! Yes a west facing “but.” But between half a mile and a mile westward there is a field that is home to a grand herd of buffalo. Amazing creatures that have been living the summer on the corners of the field as the farmer grew his crop of hay. Now though it is fall and the last crop has been cut, baled, stacked and the buffalo now roam the fields.

For some unknown reason the stars and planets aligned just right as I walked a few days ago. The farmer and his wife were just letting the buffalo out of their summer space and out onto wonderfully green pasture where they will be wintering. Even though it is the end of the haying season the pivot sprinkler is still running to give the field one last drink. Very idyllic and farm like. I watched the couple as they pulled out of the field and went on their way leaving just me and their buffalo to enjoy the sights of the green field and the chit, chit, chit of the end gun of the sprinkler. Then this happened…

This one big ole buffalo was standing under the pivot sprinkler when the water hit his back. The water comes out of drop tubes and is a mist but not so much of a mist that it couldn’t be felt by the big guy through, well through his buffalo cape. Standing there it looked like he shivered. Not a cold shiver. A happy shiver. The 2000 pound guy moved a little to the left and the water hit him on down his back. Then he moved to the right and the water ran down his face. Then he did the most amazing thing. He danced. Yes, he danced. Running under the next sprinkler and the next. Jumping and running around the next pivot tower to the next sprinkler and as he did he leapt, yes he leapt into the air and bucked and snorted and farted and spun in the air. He was playing. He was running through the sprinkler like a kid would on a hot summer afternoon. He must’ve watched that sprinkler all summer. It would come by and go past over and over and he was just waiting until he could go out and play in that water.

Pretty soon a few of the baby buffalo were running alongside of him playing in the water. After a few more minutes apparently one of the mom buffalo must have said something to the big guy because he settled down, gathered up the little ones and they all went about eating the green, green grass of their new winter home.

I’m here to tell you that if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes it would take some kind of grand story teller to tell this story to me and make me believe that buffalo can play in a sprinkler. I still close my eyes to re-see it to make sure it really happened. At the very end of the show the big buffalo—now this will sound really off—he turned towards me looked me full in the face and I swear, he was smiling. It was amazing.

Trina lives in Eureka. Find her on Facebook, Instagram or at itybytrina@yahoo.com.