A CALL FOR
COURAGE
BY MICHAEL ANTHONY
If you want to raise good beef, you
have to lower yourself to cleaning out
the stalls. I learned this growing up
on a small farm in the Garden State,
New Jersey. Most of the time we were
really good about keeping up with
Suzie, Molly, and the other cows we
named. Sometimes, though, we put
off cleaning out the stalls, until, I’m
almost certain, the stench reached to
the high heavens, enough to nearly
tempt Jesus to return to earth ahead
of schedule.
Sometimes the manure would amass
until it seemed nearly impossible
to find the concrete floor where the
cows were making their deposits. But
manure wasn’t the only thing they’d
drop. Mixed with urine, it makes for
a goopy mixture not easily forgotten,
even decades later. I can still smell
the steaming ammonia that ascended
into my nostrils on a baking-hot July
day—the day I finally remembered that
it was my turn to clean out the barn.
Being young enough to be irresponsible
and foolish enough to think there was
a swift way to make up for lost time, I
14 • Solutions
didn’t think much about what I’d wear.
The point was to finish fast so I could
get back to my outdoor classroom: the
creek, trees, fields, and pastures where
I learned about life not by reading
books, but by grasping it with my
hands and feeling it between my toes.
A shovel, pitchfork, and a pair of well-
made rubber boots are essentials
when cleaning a barn, but they are by
far not the only necessities. That day I
decided to throw those galoshes onto
my feet without the comfort of a pair of
socks. No time for that—and no need.
There are some things in life that can
only be learned by making a mistake,
and I was about to make one that truly
stunk.
Swinging wide the gate that kept the
cows contained, I ventured in. Boots
on, shovel in hand, head down in firm
resolve, I stepped forward, heading
toward the far side of the barn. I
determined I would start there, then
work my way closer and closer to
where I had entered, shoveling one
soggy scoop after another. Three steps
in, the suction on my boots reached