The continuing saga of the city mouse and the country mouse.

NEW NEIGHBORS

Country versus Urban—the rubbing of cultural tectonic plates.

Mike is a rancher in that beautiful-to-look-at country of central Oregon. His ranch house is set back from the road, fronted by a lush irrigated pasture.

In the green flush of late spring, sprinkled with colorful bovines, backdropped by verdant pines, porcelain-white clouds and china-blue sky, the setting is pretty as a picture. Perfect for developers promoting nearby “ranchette estates.”

Hot on the trail of peace and serenity—straight from the five-speed, fuel-injected, Teflon-encased, pre-taste-tested coast of central California came the new urban next-door neighbor.

Gushing and garrulous, he descended on Mike one afternoon as he labored at irrigating the roadside pasture that bordered both their front yards.

The new neighbor, hereinafter referred to as Sherman, was deeply impressed by the cows and how beautiful they looked in the overall pasture setting. He liked that he could see them from his living room window. Sherman had been in the “art world” before he began networking web pages and appreciated Mike’s cow color selections.

“The russet and beige offset the licorice and peppermint so well. They look like Christmas candy in an Easter basket,” he opined. “I hope you don’t mind if I befriend them?”

They parted, Sherman walking on air and Mike scratching his head.

The following week a big ruckus ensued when Mike found half his cows out on the highway. Tracking them back home, he found the break in the fence. It was a hundred yards long and ran across the front of Sherman’s lawn. The posts and wire were gone!

“What were you thinking?” asked the incredulous Mike.

“Oh, don’t worry,” said Sherman excitedly. “I’ve bought a beautiful three-pole, drilled-and-doweled pine log fence to put in its place. It’ll be here in a couple of weeks.”

“Well, what are we gonna use in the meantime to keep the cows off the road?”

“Don’t you have some fence we can use temporarily?”

“I did,” said Mike, “but you took it all down. Where is it?”

“I gave it to my brother-in-law to use for his horse. The green posts and silvery wire complement his Appaloosa better than your cows.” Sherman put an arm around Mike’s shoulder. “Come in the house, and I’ll show you my plans for redecorating your barn.”