It Doesn't Get Any Better
Than This
The best thing about
having a family cow is more intangible than the
food or security aspects, and it’s kind
of hard to explain. I think it has to do with
finding a place, both physically and psychologically,
that is all your own. Where you truly belong.
Cows are truly wonderful
animals in so many ways, a joy to be around. They’re
very social, hanging together in the pastures,
grazing as a herd, grooming each other, expressing
their discontent with boisterous braying when
separated from each other. If you can, you’ll
want to have at least two, for their sake as well
as your own. From most of the windows in our farmhouse,
we often look out and see our cows grazing or
doing the other cow things they do. It’s
a constant joy.
One day last summer,
I took my tractor out in the south pasture and
cut the grass down to about six inches because
it had grown faster than our cows could eat it.
The cuttings make great fertilizer, so it’s
good to cut it when it gets too long. When I finished,
I brought the tractor back out through the big
wooden gate, and I parked it, climbed down, and
leaned on a fence post. I looked out over our
pastures. Elly came over, and a couple of her
pet turkeys followed. We watched the sun sinking
into the trees to the west. Dear and our other
milker were grazing just a few feet away, turning
grass into milk, and a couple of steers were out
grazing across the pasture. Two calves came running
full speed down a gentle slope, and one of them
kicked up her heels in what I imagined was pure
delight. The late afternoon sunlight was still
warm on my face, and the smell of fresh-cut grass
filled my head.
I said, “You know, it doesn’t get
any better than this.”
Elly said, “No, it doesn’t.”
|
