Nuttin' but cows

There is a pasture right next to our campground where several cows graze. I’ve come to know their daily schedule – when their morning hay is thrown out for them to feed, when they move to the front of the pasture towards the road to get relief from the hot sun, when they move to the back of the pasture later in the day. They’ve become quite used to me coming up to the fence, clicking away with the camera and talking to them. In the beginning I was charged by a brown bull. It was frightening and I was happy he was on one side of the fence and me on the other. Once he saw that I meant no harm and I spoke calmly and quietly, he just turned and walked away.

I would love to watch them eat the hay. They would immerse themselves in it. They’d grab some hay, throw it up in the air – some would land on their backs, some their necks. Sometimes two cows would be chewing on the same wad of hay and it would look like the scene from the Disney movie, “Lady and the Tramp” when the two dogs share one piece of spaghetti and chew it till their mouths meet in the middle. I loved the stillness of the countryside except for the steady munching of the hay by the herd of cows.

I liked to rip out the tall grass growing along the fence line and reach far over it to feed the cows. Their big, wet noses would sniff my hand and out would come their black tongues to lick up the sweet grass. Their breath would smell like warm milk. One day a cow got a little too close to the electric fence and got a shock from it. I heard the zap and he jumped back and boy did he give me a dirty look. I tried to explain that it was not my fault, but I don’t think he believed me.

I usually tried to capture the beautiful sunsets which always occurred just beyond their pasture. By now the cows were so familiar with me that they would start to congregate near the fence - I suppose hoping for a hand out. I didn’t bring my tripod along for the camera, so I rested my elbow on the fence post to steady my arm, looked in the small viewfinder to focus on the sunset and began clicking away. I didn't realize that the cows were crowding in around me as close as was possible without touching the electric fence. One tall cow, who’s head came over the fence, leaned over and snorted his warm breath and wet nose right in my ear. I let out a yelp because he scared the bejesus out of me, and that, in turn, caused a little stampede! The cows all scattered about 10 feet away from me. After I stopped laughing I told them I was sorry that I had scared them but turnabout was fair play.

I came to love these giant, gentle beasts with their big eyes, long eyelashes and comical ways. I wanted to name each and every one of them instead of calling them by their tag numbers clipped to their ears. I will miss them when we leave here.

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Tranquility Pond

At the campground we stayed at this summer, we were parked right across from a small pond that I’ve named Tranquility. I loved to sit outside and watch the activity at the pond. We had various visitors – hundreds of Canadian geese, a Great Blue Heron, an American Bittern, bullfrogs, and the latest spotting, I think, was a muskrat.
During the mating season of the bull frogs, their calls were so loud that we could hear them even with our windows shut. These frogs were huge, larger than the size of Jim’s hand. If I walked around the pond I’d hear a loud, “ker-plunk” as they jumped in the water ahead of my footsteps.

One day while sitting outside reading, I was rewarded with a Great Blue Heron landing at the pond. I happened to have my camera next to me and was able to get a shot of it landing. He took long, slow steps as if he were sneaking up on someone or something as he walked around the pond searching for food.

I know that Canadian geese are a nuisance and messy, but I truly enjoyed them. I’d hear their loud honking and peek out of the trailer to spy how many were visiting the pond that morning. It wasn’t unusual to have over a hundred at one time. I liked when the geese in the pond honked to the geese flying overhead. I wondered what they were saying. “Hey, how are you?” or “Get the heck outta here! This is OUR spot!”

Many of our neighbors in the campground worked, so I had the pond all to myself. One day I was lying on my stomach trying to get a close up of a feather nestled in the grass. I heard a far away voice call out, "Hello? Are you alright?" A woman was walking around the campground, saw me sprawled out on the grass, and thought something had happened to me! I sheepishly rolled over and held up my camera. "Ah!" she said and continued on her way.

I hope we get this same spot next time we come to this campground. I can easily see my moo-cows out my door, plus the lovely geese, and hope to have the bull frogs lull us to sleep.

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