A miner moves out west to California...

A miner moves out west to California. Having spent a few years in Colorado, he has a pretty good idea of the sort of lifestyle miner's live; up from dusk 'til dawn in the mines, and then up from dusk 'til dawn drinking and playing card games.

So, to his surprise, when he moves to Bluster's Bluff, the town is dead silent. No sounds of metal against rock, no barroom songs, no children playing in the streets - nothing. So, curiously, he peeks into the local saloon.

Sure enough, the saloon is packed to the gills with tough looking miners just like himself. However, all of them are sitting quietly, looking at the floor, not saying a word.

The miner sits down next to a townsfolk and says, "Pardon me sir, but is there any work around here for a miner to do?"

The townsperson looks at him like he's crazy. "Well sure, pal," he says, "but you can't be goin' into the mines today!"

"Why not?"

"Because Farmer John just harvested his wheat! We have to wait for him to grind it into flour!" he responds as if it's obvious.

Not wanting to look like too much of an outsider, the miner simply nods his head, grabs something to drink, and decides to go home early.

The following day, he returns to the saloon. Again, it's packed, and again, everyone is sitting in silence.

Cautiously, he approaches the person he talked to the other day and asks, "What about today? Is today alright for mining?"

He shakes his head. "No, son. The Wells Fargo wagon doesn't come into town until tomorrow, and we need a bag of sugar."

Again, the miner pretends he understands before going home to read a book.

He begins to get restless. On the third day, he returns to the saloon, and to his surprise finds it empty except for the barkeep. His hopes begin to rise and he starts to head towards the mines - that is, of course, until he spots all the miners at Farmer John's farm.

He approached the crowd and sees them all crowded around the chicken coop. He grabs one of them by the shoulders and says, "Can we please get to mining today? I'm sick and tired of sitting around!"

"Yeah, yeah, we will! We just have to wait until ol' Betty-Lou here lays an egg!"

The miner throws up his hands and storms home.

However, on the fourth day, he wakes up to cheering and gunfire and song. He runs outside and sees the miners dancing in the streets, causing a ruckus, and getting their pickaxes and shovels ready.

"What the hell's going on?" demands the miner.

"Ol' Betty-Lou laid her some eggs, and now Missus John is baking up a storm! We can finally mine again!"

"What on God's green earth are you talking about?" he yells. "This whole time we've been waiting for some lady to get to work in her kitchen? Why the hell does that matter?"

"Didn't you know, son?" he replies, excitedly. "Cake Day's the best day to get gold!"