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Baxter Black, On the Edge of Common Sense: The Trusty Toyota

Gerrall Wayne does his best to keep his old Toyota quarter-ton irrigator pickup in presentable condition. But he’s not afraid to put his ol’ truck to the test.

One of his heifers lost her calf. Gerrall went down to Clifford’s dairy to pick up a baby Holstein to graft on. He hog-tied the calf and headed out into the pasture to catch the heifer. Gerrall is usually accompanied on his daily rounds with a herd of dogs; five blue heelers and two pugs, one of which has only one eye. They are formidable truck guards when Gerrall needs to leave the truck unattended in town. And, on rare occasions they (the heelers) can be useful when handling cattle.

Gerrall’s cows were tame enough for him to get within a few feet of them. Taking advantage of this, he slid up to the heifer and threw a rope around her neck. She had a personality conversion and threw a four-letter fit! Looking for a place to dally, Gerrall caught a coil on his bumper and snagged her. He couldn’t drag her closer so, with baby calf in hand he started down the taut line thinking, somehow that the heifer would stand still? Cowboy Logic, I guess.



The blue heelers wanted to help. The heifer took off around the truck! Gerrall had the graft calf under one arm and a grip on the rope. He was nearly jerked off his feet when all five heelers started heeling! The calf, the heifer, and Gerrall were swept up in the tsunami, as they raced around the truck.

Thank goodness they ran out of rope. Gerrall and the calf were flung from the centrifuge of disaster, the dogs were making U-turns and the heifer jumped on top of the hood! You could hear the tin-foil crumpling, the fiberglass screeching, and smell the plastic burning!



The two pugs had remained in the pickup cab, where they had reserved seats. When the heifer hit the windshield it shattered like it had been struck by a meteorite! Pieces of it flew and the heifer found herself face to face with the one-eyed pug! With his smashed-in face, bulging eye, flying slobber and non-stop barking she broke wind and slid back off the hood pinned tight by the wrapped rope.

Gerrall proudly told the story of how the cow just stood there, bound to the truck, and let the calf suck. He was the talk of the town. He also has one of the more recognizable vehicles when driving down 4th Street. It could be the smashed-in hood or bent bumper that makes it so obvious, but the two pugs, feet upon the dashboard, heads lookin’ through the big hole in the windshield, are a dead giveaway.