Grazing Cows Mooing and Sweet Yellow Corn

Old MacDonald had a farm, “eee-i-eee-i-ooo.” And so did some of my family members and neighbors. In addition to all the fruit trees and vegetable gardens throughout town, there were also pastures filled with horses, pigs, and cows. These animals freely grazed and roamed around their fields.

One of our neighbors had a pasture of cows and bulls. We’d climb trees in our front yard and steal glances at them. Because we feared the bulls, we knew not to stand too close to the fencing. It seemed as if these animals were constantly eating or chewing on something. Their wide mouths swayed from side to side as they grazed indulgently across the pasture. They also never seemed to be in a hurry to go anywhere. They just stood there, eating or looking at you with big expressionless eyes.

As young children, in our innocence, we did not know that they were being fattened for slaughter. We remained clueless until one day when we heard the most agonized mooing we had ever heard. The cows were being chased by armed men; a fatted cow had finally met its day of reckoning. They could run all they wished, but there was nowhere to hide. Then, with a “bang,” it was all over! Sadness overcame me and I wept for the life lost. I thought about the cow’s family and how they would miss her. I cried for having witnessed what had taken place with my own eyes. I cried because I now understood their plight and purpose. 

After that day, I did not enjoy watching the cows the way I had before. I did not want to, once again, witness what I had seen. Perhaps if I had understood the circle of life, and how all life here on Earth comes to an end, maybe I would not have been so impacted by witnessing the inevitable. If I had known that these cows were a part of a food chain, maybe then I would have been better prepared. One of my high school teachers told the class about the day her young daughters made the connection that the cows they were caring for were now dinner. According to my teacher, her daughter looked up at her as they ate steaks and asked, “Is this that brown cow we’re eating?” My teacher said she just looked at her daughter and stopped chewing. Her daughter had put it in perspective.

Where were Charlotte and Templeton when those cows needed them?!