It's important to remember how I know them so I can answer correctly based on the question they're asking. If they're oxen people I have to, sheepishly, tell them that they're not getting much work these days. If they're folks from the Centreville community, we talk cross country and I tell them about that team.
This fall is my 20th season coaching runners in the same school (Centreville High School in St. Joseph County, MI) and as happens every fall, the days aren't long enough to manage getting teaching, coaching, a little housework, homework, family time, church choir, AND oxen driving.
But that's the nice thing about oxen. They remember. They stay relatively calm without daily work.
All three of the boys get handled every day with feedings and in moving from pasture to dry lot, etc., so they stay pretty sharp, if not really ready for hard work.
Yesterday, on my first day without something scheduled in September (the 30th!), I managed to have the oxen out for about 3 hours. We spent most of our time moving equipment around the yard to make lawn mowing easier.
Zeus and Cassius went first and they were well-behaved-if-not-exactly-willing. Then I swapped out Zeus for Brutus in the nigh position and we worked for about 45 minutes without me having to say anything to them, with one exception, but that's a tale for another time.
How's your team?
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