tuck in the Mud

aron Von Lodge was the head of a small country known as Lilliland near Switzerland. The time was the early 1900s.

Lilliland was a peaceful and quiet country. Like Switzerland it was a neutral country. Tourism and farming were two of the major activities in the country.

Every Monday morning the Baron would have a meeting with his chief advisor, Professor Hamblin, and his fiancée, Lady Angela of Alpine Castle.

There was nothing special on the agenda so the Professor brought up a request from farmer Peterson. It seemed that his prize cow, Nellie, liked to wander in the mud in the meadow when it rained and invariably got stuck in the mud. Sometimes it took three or four men to help pull Nellie out of the mud. Farmer Peterson wanted to know if anyone in Lilliland could come up with a plan to help with Nellie’s problem.

All that Professor Hamblin could offer was that the vacuum created by Nellie’s hooves made it harder to pull her out and some special devices should be attached to her feet. Something like shoes? asked the Baron. Yes, said the Professor.

Three of the shoemakers in Lilliland were asked to design and build some shoes for Nellie, the prized cow. Two of the shoemakers said no but the third said he would try some boots for the back feet.

The first attempt at the shoes for Nellie did not work but when a space was made for the air to get under the shoe thus avoiding the suction, it worked.

This seemed like a lot of unnecessary work for a cow. Why not just fence off the meadow and fill in the muddy parts? Farmer Peterson said that those were very good suggestions but the grass was so rich in the meadow that it produced better milk and better cheese.

The Baron said to the Professor that he was glad he was able to help Farmer Peterson with his problem. It certainly made the job of running a country very challenging because he never knew what was going to happen next in Lilliland.