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Most of what the Pen Cam sees is a cow lying in straw, chewing. Which is what you want. But every so often it catches something worth saving, and this was the best night yet. Here's how it went, by the clock.

12:40 a.m. Patches, who is mostly white with little black freckles all over (you can guess who the fourth graders named her calf after), had been restless all evening. I checked the computer before bed and she was lying down and getting up, lying down and getting up. Donald went to bed. I made coffee.

1:35 a.m. Feet showing. Two front feet and a nose, the right way. I sat at the kitchen table in my bathrobe and watched the picture change every three minutes, and I did not have to go out in the cold to do it.

2:10 a.m. Calf on the ground. Patches got right up and started licking.

2:30 a.m. I went out with the iodine and the ear tag, dipped the navel, checked that it was a heifer, and left the two of them alone. Then I came back in to warm up the colostrum.

2:51 a.m. Up on all four feet in 41 minutes. Wobbly, but up. Patches is licking her dry.

3:20 a.m. Colostrum warm. Boots on. Turned on the barn lights.

3:26 a.m. That's me with her first bottle. She took the whole two quarts. Patches watched every swallow. Yes, I'm looking at the camera. I knew my mother would be checking.

3:45 a.m. Back in the house. Coffee cold. Donald still asleep. He says he would've woken up if I'd needed him.

Monday, 8:15 a.m. Mrs. Magee's class saw the frames first thing and voted on a name. The vote was 17 for Freckles, 6 for Patches Junior, and 1 for Moo Moo. Freckles went out to her hutch on Sunday and is drinking like a champ.

Ninety pounds, black with a white face and white legs. Welcome to the world, Freckles.

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