Alarm Clock

Now I know most folks today have some kind of fancy alarm clock. Probably digital or maybe even one that wakes you by playing music. With them in mind I got to thinking of my younger days on the farm.

There was no such thing as an alarm clock, or at least one by today’s standards. On the dairy farm I was in bed at around 7:00 PM and looked forward to it. After a hard day out in the fields and looking after the critters, sleep didn’t take long in coming. I was usually up in the morning around 4:15 AM and my first chore of the day was bringing in firewood for the cook stove, along with splitting a bit of kindling. From there, it was off to the barn to help with the milking.

My alarm clock was a bit different from most folks had, mine was an old Red Rooster. I got to tell you, this rooster had a set of lungs on him that could have woken up a whole town, if there had been one close by. Most roosters only crow when the sun comes up, but for some reason this crazy old thing we had, was up and out on the fence at 4:15 every morning. The worst part was, that the spot he picked was right below my window. He saw a few of my shoes come flying out of the window at him, in my stay on the farm.

For years I tried to get Laura to make a rooster pot pie but she wouldn’t hear of it. I think the only reason they kept him around was just to bug me. I also figured that the darn thing just wanted a good laugh every morning.

I remember one morning, I was laying awake there in bed waiting for him to start his crowing but for some reason on this morning he didn’t. Kind of thought it was strange, as he’s never missed a morning since I moved there. Well, I got up and headed on over to the barn to have a look around but he was nowhere to be found. I then headed on out to the fence which he usually stood on and there he was laying on the ground, with blood all over the place. By looking at the tracks I soon seen that a fox had gotten to him. I thought he was a goner but after a bit more looking, I found he was still alive. He was messed up quite a bit and you could tell he must have put up quite a fight as there was feathers everywhere. I figured he gave that old fox a run for his money.

Well I picked him up and carried him back to the barn. He had one broken wing and a few cuts. Laura helped me fix him up and for the next few weeks I kept his wounds clean and fed him. He wouldn’t eat for a few days but he slowly came around. A couple weeks later he was his old self and I figured he would soon be back out on the fence in the mornings, waking me up. I have to say, I really missed his greetings, not that I would admit it to anyone.

A few more days went by and then one morning I was awoken by a familiar sound. I laid there awake and smiled, I was happy he was back to his old self. I went down stairs and to my surprise I found it was 4:30 AM. That old rooster got slipped up on his time, I thought. The next morning I waited for his call and darned if it wasn’t right on 4:30 AM again.

I got to talking to Reg about it and he said, “Well, I guess he figured since you mended and cared for him, he would let you sleep in an extra fifteen minutes in the mornings.”

“Maybe so,’ I said, “we will see what he does in the coming days.”

Time went by and every morning after that the old rooster never crowed till 4:30 AM, which was okay by me, as it saved me walking outside in my bare feet to get my shoes.

So there you have it, not your average alarm clock but very effective.

In Closing, I would Like To Wish You Well