City Girl Gets Mired in Farm Life Growing up in Burlingame, Kansas, June Hilbert didn't know cow pies lurked in her future. But a broccoli bouquet after a first date soon had June saying "I do" to a man who spent his spare time herding cows on the Kansas prairie. Now this woman who spent her working life in suits knows more than she ever wanted to about calves, roosters armed with spurs of mass destruction and barbed wire fences. High heels are kicked off for gumboots so June can extradite fugitive cattle, kill snakes and even learn some (cattle) mid-wifing skills. Not only is she skilled at evading steaming cow pies, but she learned to play Cow Pie Frisbee. No longer an Administrative Assistant at a bank, June now is proud owner of more interesting titles: Bovine Fugitive Apprehension Agent, Bovine Breeding and Planned Parenthood Overseer, Certified Bovine Midwife Assistant, and General Ranch Hand. She's even the proud owner of a hay hook. Life is good on the farm, even though the shoes aren't as stylish. Occasionally, she still steps in cow pies.About the Author: June Hilbert grew up in Burlingame, Kansas, a small town southwest of Topeka, the state capital. After graduating from high school, she attended Emporia State University and Kansas State University. Indecision about her future led her to leave those hallowed halls of academia in 1974 and seek her first and only full-time job at a financial institution in Topeka. Several years later, June met her future husband, Bill, a part-time farmer who worked full-time for the Kansas Department of Agriculture. He wooed her with a head of broccoli larger in diameter than a dinner plate. Three years later, her internship as a farm wife began. June retired from her city job in 2012. She and Bill and their golden retriever, Cricket, live on a 160-acre farm northeast of Topeka, where they run a cow/calf operation. She is proud she can build a fire in the wood furnace without burning down the house, and navigate a farm truck pulling a loaded hay trailer over field terraces without high-centering. June claims her next-favorite gift from Bill, after the head of broccoli, was a shiny, red hay hook.