When our two cows decided that it was “in their best interest to explore other opportunities”, we called our neighbors and asked them to keep an eye out for them. We also mentioned it to a few friends from church who live nearby or who have relatives that live nearby.

One of those friends, Lindsey, teaches horseback riding. She has teenage students learning the skillful art of western riding on cutting horses. Lindsey volunteered to bring her students by last Thursday morning for a search and rescue operation.

They arrived around 7:00am and unloaded their horses. We told them where we’d last seen our beautiful heifers, how to identify them, and where we wanted them should the students find the heifers.

Riding students search for our missing heifers.

They set out on a mission to find our missing livestock. Undeterred by a light rain, they continued their search for over three hours.

Alas, they returned sans heifers. The students had looked most everywhere for the wayward bovines but they were no where to be found.

Benjamin wanted to help search for the heifers. Maybe next time.

Rachel want to be Benjamin’s partner.

Our heifers were still on the lam. (Laura and I watched a 1950’s tough-guy movie the other night with lots of phrases like “packing heat” and “on the lam”).

We were, of course, a bit discouraged by this point. The heifers had been gone for 4 days, without a sighting from anyone.

Then, while talking with friends after our worship service on Sunday morning, Lindsey approached us with a big grin on her face. Her uncle had just called and he had our heifers. They had found and joined his heard about 3 miles aways. Fantastic!!!

By the time we got home (we live about a mile from our church building) and changed clothes, Lindsey’s uncle was pulling up the driveway with our heifers in his cattle trailer.

So, the cows have come home! Not exactly of their own volition, but they are home nonetheless.