Old McDonald Had A Farm....

I debated blogging tonight, as I felt that my day today would be of interest to no one but me. But, B says this is supposed to be a history of our days, and since sheer, unadulterated venting is allowed (actually, encouraged) here, I decided I would blather to the world about the day from Hell here on the farm today.
Darrel ran over our dog, Keegan today. Of course, you have to be a dog lover to understand exactly how heart and gut wrenching this was. And remember I had to put my beloved companion of 15 years, (Digger), to sleep just 2 months ago. Keegan is a joy, one of those "happy" dogs who always seems to smile. His one and only bad habit is he loves to sleep under the vehicles during the day. (Why he would choose to do this in the hot sand of the driveway instead of under a shady tree is beyond me, but it seems to be his spot of choice.) Although we have always worried about it, it's never been a problem because we know to look for him and can always spot the 100 lb. dog laying there. However, today Darrel had the stock trailer hooked up to the pickup and since the axles on the trailer sit only a couple of inches from the ground, he didn't see Keegan under there, and proceeded to take off.
I was finishing up getting ready to go to work when Darrel ran in saying, "I ran over my dog." I totally freaked and did not handle things well. He said the dog was wallking around, but was gushing blood from his nose and mouth and asked me to please come out. I just kept saying, "I can't Darrel. I just can't," as I sobbed. He said he was taking him to the vet and I just kept saying, "I can't go. I just can't." The thought of watching another "family member" die so soon after Digger just crippled me. I was so shocked at my weakness that I was ashamed of myself and finally said, "I'm going." I couldn't stand the thought of Keegan dying alone in the back seat while Darrel drove. I held him all the way to the vets (a 30 minute drive that felt like 2 hours) and he kept bleeding and choking and gagging. We had no doubt he had internal injuries and we were both sure he would die before we got there.
Keegan is still alive and at the vets and they will perform surgery on him tomorrow. He has a severely bruised side and one lung has a bruised and bloody spot, but no puncture. We've been able to determine that he actually wasn't "run over," but that the low clearance between the axle and the ground caught his head and dragged him several feet. One side of his "face" is fractured in several places and he may lose the eye on that side or the sight in it. He has several cracked and splintered teeth, his muzzle is pretty cut up, and he has a hole in the roof of his mouth, going up to his sinus cavity. (This is where all the blood was coming from and what was causing him to choke and gag.) They hope to repair this whole tomorrow. Of course, with any surgery there is always risk, but I look forward to having him home and completely spoiling him while he recovers.
We also discovered that one of Darrel's year-old calves has pnuemonia tonight. Now, you must understand that we are not farmers or ranchers. Darrel's little "herd" (3 year-old calves, one 4 year old Mama cow, and her six month calf) are PETS more than anything. They too, are like family members, and each has a very distinct personality of his/her own. We are "doctoring" Casper (yes - they all have names, which they know and answer to!) with penicillin and other "wonder" drugs and if he makes it through the next 48 hours he will be fine.
Okay - there's my saga of the day for posterity. Now I want to hear the rest of Lydia's tale, as I totally relate to the "one-eyed fish" idea - I always buy what my family refers to as the "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree!!