Stories, opinions, facts, convictions, and lessons learned from a small town farm girl.


Friday, August 19, 2011

Checking Cows with Dad

Although I'm in graduate school and don't have cattle of my own in Arkansas, I am fortunate enough to live far enough out of town to have my house surrounded by them and have pastures lining either side of the roads I travel down.  Last night while on my evening walk I spotted my first calf from the fall calving cow herd across the road.  Although he was the only baby in the pasture, that didn't stop him from kicking up the dust and throwing up his feet as he tore circles around the mama cows.  Watching him made me think about one of my favorite things as a child - and even still to this day.  Our cow herd at my home in Maryland is spring-calving, so we're still quite a ways off from our calving season. 


There is absolutely nothing I enjoy more in this world than riding with my dad through the fields to check cows - I remember when I was young that would be our question and answer time... I would ask about 3579 questions, and dad would be patient and answer every one.  It would be so exciting when we found a cow with a new calf - I would get to hold it while dad castrated and tagged it - and I would love to pet it's little head and soft ears and couldn't wait to watch it grow.  I remember the exact place we were the first time I got to tag my first calf.  I was so excited and so proud - I felt like I was really growing up.

Things really haven't changed much since then... I enjoy checking cows with my dad just as much as I did back then and I still love the feeling of soft, curly hair on a newborn calf's head.  Looking back, I now know that most of my knowledge I gained about cattle was learned from the passenger side of my dad's truck.  I wouldn't trade a single thing in this world for the memories of those moments and the lessons learned while checking cows with dad.

2 comments:

  1. Same here. The time spent in the pastures with my family is my favorite. I love your little baldy calf.
    www.crystalcattle.com

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  2. Cute post! Baby calves are the best. :)

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