It’s a frosty morning as December begins the journey to Christmas and the winter months that follow. I am not a cold weather girl. I like, no! I NEED to feel the warmth of that big beautiful light in the sky on my face! These dark and cold days of winter threaten to freeze the life out of me. So, that being the case, why would I choose a life where I have to traipse across a frozen tundra path to the barn morning after morning and evening after evening? The answer: I love cows! I may as well admit it now! Surprised?
I was first drawn to cows at county fairs. Oh, I loved the horse barn and all the other attractions, but I couldn’t wait to get to the cow barns. My husband was born and raised in Amish country in Ohio and we began the tradition of spending time at his hometown county fair as a family. His dad raised steers and most of his cousins are still in the farming business and their kids in 4-H, so we began going through the cow barns at the fair. It is there that I first fell in love with the jersey breed of bovine. Oh! Their eyes! Big and brown, doe-like eyes that just drew me in! I watched the 4-H kids caring for them and at times, just lying in the straw with them and I was jealous! I know, you may think I am crazy!
At the same time I was being drawn to the bovine species, my heart was being drawn to the country. The first time my husband-to-be took me to his part of the state, I was so captured by the beauty of the rich dirt in the fields, rolling hills dotted with cattle grazing or crops waving in the breeze and the seeming simplicity of the cycle of life there. The change of seasons was so obvious there: dead and brownness of winter gave way to green new life in the spring which in its time gave way to harvest in the fall. Plant seed, grow it and harvest it. The land with houses few and far between and the unhurried pace was calling to me!
The next link in the chain was that a friend of mine introduced me to an incredible young woman who had a cow and provided milk to people through a herd share. This jersey cow’s name was Kate. I got to know Kate as I picked up milk each week and I grew to love her! Eight to nine hundred pounds of docile love! I was amazed as I watched my new friend take care of Kate and at the time thought there was no way I would ever be able to do that. I had subdivision brain, but my heart was slowly being drawn to the country. In addition to falling in love with the country and jersey cows, I grew to love fresh milk.
Then, my young friend sold her house and moved away. My only “fix” was heading to the cattle barn each year at the fair. I found myself not wanting to leave the cattle barns and my camera filling up with pictures of bovine. Not long after, I was told of a farmer whose jersey cow had just had a calf. I headed over and saw this adorable little tan calf with doe-like eyes peeking out from behind her mom trying to hide in the crude little shelter the farmer had built as a haven from the harsh winter. I was in love!
Her name was Mocha. Oh, what a sweet looking calf she was. However, she was so shy and afraid that I couldn’t get close to her. I tried and tried for months but she kept her distance. I told the farmer then that we were planning to sell our house in the subdivision and move to the country and when that happened, I wanted to buy Mocha from him. He laughed and agreed, but honestly, I doubt he thought he would ever be called upon to keep that promise. Little did he know that my love for Mocha was growing and growing!
Although there is a very special story in our move to the country, which I will save for a later date, I will jump ahead to us moving here. Almost six acres with a barn and a ranch home, with pastures already fenced, complete with a manure pile, was our destination in the country.
I hope you will join me next time for the continued story of how we got here.
