The Bull Who Loved Summer

I still remember that summer of 1958 when I was twelve, the summer our old barn cat Whiskers taught me something about courage, and our bull Ferdinand taught me something about joy.

It had been the hottest July anyone could recall, the kind where the air shimmered over the cornfields and the chickens sought shade under the porch. My father had dug the pool himself—a simple concrete rectangle he'd filled with garden hose water, meant to cool us off during harvest season. But at seventeen, I thought myself too old for splashing about with my little sisters.

'There's dignity in work,' my father would say, wiping sweat from his brow as he mended fences. But Ferdinand, our two-thousand-pound Hereford bull, had other ideas.

Whiskers, the barn cat who'd survived three winters and a close call with a fox, sat on the fence rail watching as Ferdinand lumbered toward the pool one afternoon. My father had left the gate unlatched, and the bull, usually so stubborn you couldn't budge him with a tractor, seemed possessed by some unexpected wisdom.

I watched from the porch, certain this would end in disaster. But Ferdinand didn't charge. He stepped into that pool with the grace of a creature discovering his true nature, sinking slowly until only his massive head remained above water. He let out a sigh that ruffled the surface like wind over wheat.

Whiskers purred approval.

'Well I'll be,' my father said, coming up behind me. 'Even the strongest among us need to cool off sometimes.' He stripped to his undershirt and jumped in, splashing water everywhere. Ferdinand didn't flinch.

That afternoon, I learned that strength isn't about carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. Sometimes it's about knowing when to wade into the water and let something else hold you up. Whiskers, Ferdinand, my father—all teachers, each in their own way.

Now, watching my great-grandson cannonball into the very same pool—my granddaughter inherited this place—I understand what they were trying to tell me. Life will give you heavy lifting, sure. But it will also offer you cool water and unexpected friends. Even the bull knew that.