She was ten miles away from the only home she’d ever known. She was in her new pasture, and she was surrounded by grass, glorious grass.
She was content. This was what I had dreamed of. And this is just as I found her.
Mama Red comes running!
I spotted her from my brother’s truck as we crested the hill. She lifted her head from eating. She knew Jamie’s truck and started our way. She began to run. Continue reading »
Whoa! Seems the subject of the novel I am writing, that time-honored rite of passage of 4-H kids feeding out a steer or a lamb or goat for the big show and auction that follows, is getting a lot of buzz the last few days. And I’m talking heated buzz as in almost 1700 comments left after CNN published two articles in its “Eatocracy” section of its website a couple of weeks ago.
The uproar began with a piece called “Five Reasons to Buy From Your Local 4-H.” http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2011/06/21/55-five-reasons-to-buy-from-your-local-4-h/
So many people left responses that a second piece, “Does 4-H Desensitize Kids to Killing?” was published two days later. http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2011/06/23/does-4-h-desensitize-kids-to-killing/?hpt=hp_c2 As that article pointed out, two incredibly distinctive lines of thinking emerged: “One was that 4-H promotes responsible animal husbandry and the cultivation of food resources in a responsible, ethical way and the other was that it serves to desensitize children to the suffering of animals.”
This is the question my novel, ONE GOOD MAMA BONE, addresses. Continue reading »
Mama Red and twins say "hi"
I got to visit with Mama Red and her twins last week and wanted to send along the latest pic. Her twin girl is standing beside her and twin boy is laying on the ground. Notice the markings on the girl’s face. Like mama, like daughter!
Look at how curious they were. I got right up on them, and they let me!
I must tell you that what you’re looking at is totally out of the ordinary, though. In fact, you may never see another picture like this in a long time — maybe even never. Do you know why? Continue reading »
Gene Baur and Opie
Meet Gene Baur and his good buddy, Opie.
Almost two decades ago, according to published material, this cow, then a tiny calf no more than a few hours old, was abandoned and left for dead at a stockyard in upstate New York. He was a dairy industry discard too weak and sickly to even stand. He lay helpless in an alleyway, where few signs of life emanated from him — let alone any indication of the magnificent creature he was destined to become. Continue reading »
Every now and then, if we’re lucky, we run across someone who makes us want to just flat be better. I’ve run across such a person. Her name is Helga Tacreiter, and she runs The Cow Sanctuary http://www.thecowsanctuary.org in Bridgeton, New Jersey. Here is how she introduces herself:
I LOVE COWS. Big, beautiful, breathing cows. I grew to love them when I worked on farms, milking and feeding these peaceful creatures and getting to know their distinct individual personalities. My heart broke each time one of my friends was sent to slaughter, which is the sad reality of farm life. But what could I do? I made their lives as decent as possible while they were in my care, then I had to kiss them goodbye.
Until the storm: a huge spring storm that lasted most of the night, with roaring thunder and lightning bolts hurtling down with deafening cracks.
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