My Life With Cows, Too

I moved to the "country" three years ago after growing up in the heart of Philadelphia. All of my friends and most of my family are city-people. They love the dynamics, the crowds, the buildings, the culture. But 10 years ago, I couldn't wait to leave the city. I hated the cement, the exhaust, the noise, the lack of nature and green and peace and wildlife. So when the company I work for offered me a position in upper Bucks County, PA, I jumped. I moved to a farming community about seven miles from work. Close enough to retail outlets to make life convenient, but no crowds, lots of open space, farms, no streetlights or traffic on my street......and cows out my bedroom window.

I live next door to a dairy farm (which by the way, produces delicious milk). During the winter the cows stay in the barns or close to the barns which are 1/2 mile away, so I only see them when I go to the tiny store on the farm to buy milk, eggs and ice cream. But once warm spring weather comes, they walk the length of the pasture each morning aroud 6am and end up outside my house. I love to watch them amble, udders full and swinging, arriving at the electric fence where they munch grass and lie in the shade. When the calves are born they start accompanying their mothers on this morning stroll. They lie together under the shade of a tree while moms keep close eyes on them.

So the inconvenience of having to drive 60 miles roundtrip to visit family and friends can be annoying, but on mornings like this, when the birds are singing and the cows are outside the window, 60 miles seems like a small price to pay.