Animale

As I get my writing chops back up a little bit, we'll start out with some observations from the drive out to Louisville today. Yes, that will do nicely.

I continue to be on the lookout for animals. Last week at the Ag Show in Moultrie, GA I got to see cows (and calves) and pigs and alpacas and sheep and herding dogs. Very cool. There was one featured event called "The Cow Whisperer." I couldn't resist. I thought the guy might claim to delve deep into the bovine thoughts and relate ridiculousness, but he was pretty straight-forward. I did learn some cool things about cows. How I remember those facts, accurate or not, I will relate to you now. Cows have about a 310 degree side to side field of vision whereas we humans have about 200 degrees. Top to bottom their field of vision is much smaller than ours. Also, if you get behind a cow, that freaks them out because they can't see you and that's when they kick you. This why when you see herding dogs herding they try to be on the side and in front of the cows/sheep so as not to spook them. I think I was the only person that listened to the Cow Whisperer. He said cows have really good hearing and can pinpoint the source of a sound where we humans have a less keen sense for such things. He mentioned how if a cow had been present when JFK was shot it would have known exactly where the shots came from, but, it couldn't have told anyone... because it was a cow (that last part was mine). I also believe he said they have really good vision and see in color.

As we were driving along this morning I saw fields full of cows all eating. Not moving much. Later in the day I saw fields full of cows that were all staring in the same direction, not really moving. They were all in profile with perfect silhouettes. It looked like a Grandma Moses painting, very two-dimensional and pastoral where even the hills and mountains flattened out to match the cows. I'd love to sit all day and watch a cow do its thing, the snapshot glimpse every few hours on the side of the highway doesn't satisfy my curiosity. There has to be a time of day when there is a lot of transition, some cows eating, some staring into the distance, some sleeping, some walking. I must find out. I'll be Jane Goodall for cows, though I don't think the public fascination is there.

Farm country is beautiful, even on a rainy day. The grass is juicy and the colors muted where everything grabs some gray from the sky. The animals are wet, their coats heavy with damp smells. That has to be quite a load to carry around. But they make the most of it. I saw a little calf bucking around by a creek. He seemed pretty happy, embracing his cowness and frolicking about. It didn't look as though any others would join him in his fun. They all just stared through the gray, each a dark fuzzy shape placed on a Sunday school felt board. Still.

I saw a dog being walked at a rest area in the rain. It was sniffing and not all that interested in going where the leash was suggesting it go. At the time it made me think of a bad conversation, pulling and pushing, neither side understanding the other, each convinced of their own direction. Now it just makes me think of dogs.

I saw a handful of cats playing in a field in Kentucky. Maybe they weren't playing. They might have been hunting a mouse or something, but they were doing it together, and I thought that was nice.

Go cats!