21 May Creatures of Habit

Creatures of habit. Did you know that cows walk out to pasture on the same path, and back to the barn again at milking time, making a cowpath, soft and dusty for bare feet to follow? With cow plops on it, of course. Did you know that each cow has her own place in the barn, usually with a grain tag above it in the front, telling how many pounds she gets, according to stage of lactation and production, and another card in the back, hanging up to tell her name, her date of calving, and due date, sire and dam? Morning and night, they come back and go in their own place to be fed and milked. Remarkable if you think about it, our home barn has 65 stalls in it to choose from. Teaching a new heifer her place is something I know about. A few are greedy, dodging into other cows stalls, checking for leftover grain. Other habits are learned – when I married, for instance, I understood that my farmer husband was not familiar with small children riding ponies up and down the alleyway while he milked, or racing tricycles up and down the mangers. Neither were his cows. But all soon adjusted to my habits.

I too, am a creature of habits. Just now a woman came for a creamee, and was so disappointed when I told her that we only had them Thursday through Saturday. But keep reading! Our summer hours are Wednesday through Monday, 10-5, with Sunday hours 2-5. She was delighted, but probably wondered why I was grinning as I made her creamee. I have been canning syrup for three days, and as my hand pulled the lever down for the ice cream, my foot automatically lifted to push down the bar for the canner. Different machine!