Cows

I have always been partial to cows.

Not to have as house decorations, or pets, but to look at in fields. And I was thinking the other day, as we drove down the highway past fields full of new born calves, that you don't see as many varieties as you used to. Or maybe it's just a BC thing. In Saskatchewan you'd see a field of the pitch black Aberdeen Angus, looking mean and cranky. The next farmer would have the black and white Holsteins, the type that you see on kitchen towels and fridge magnets. And then the pretty Jersey cow, the kind that look like they belong in a Disney movie, with big brown eyes and long eyelashes. Some farmers had the white Charolais, which always seemed a little uppity. Not of the farmers, but the cows themselves. They weren't as common and I guess they felt a little special, you'd never see them wander over to the fenceline like the pretty little Jerseys would. They Jerseys would take grass from our hands, snuffling for more and liking a scratch on the nose. The Holsteins would meander over too, not quite as friendly, and hesitant to take anything from us. The Aberdeens would just stand and look mean, I guess knowing that you are being bred to be eaten makes you a little less prone to be friendly and the Charolais would just be happy in their own little clique, never even looking our way.

I guess seeing all the calves the other day has made me think a little of my "formative" teen years in Saskatchewan, hangin' out with cows and my best friend (who wasn't a cow...she was a real person!) We would walk out of town and head down the back roads and byways and talk of what we were going to "be" when we grew up, discuss the latest crush we had in school and who was going to ask who to the dance. You know, the normal sort of teen talk. We'd hang over the fence posts and wait for the cows to come and see what we we were doing. Cows are very curious, especially the Jerseys. In no time they would come trotting over, and once one came, they would all come. If a cow is ill, and the vet (or farmer) comes out and stands over it, all the others will hastily come too see what's up. Maybe they are just worried that they are missing out on some sort of cow-treat, but I like to think that they have a little social concern for each other.

Kids today probably would sooner fall over in a dead faint than visit a cow, and I'll bet that most of them couldn't even name 2 different breeds of cattle. Which, to my way of thinking, is sort of sad.