Monday, September 15, 2008

I MISS THE COWS

The state road that leads to our rural community is a scenic route. On the north side of the highway is a lushly landscaped golf course. The south side has an even more elaborate landscape that surrounds a gated country club community. It's really a sight to behold. But for all its glory, I miss the cows.

You see, when we first moved to this area, the view on our ride to and from home included cows on each side of the road. Sometimes the cows would be visible on one side of the road and over a small hill on the other side where you couldn't see them. It always seemed that if you could see cows on one side, they were missing from the other side. At one point, I had D1 and D2 convinced they were the same cows and they crossed the road while they were at school. They believed me until they tried to share this theory with friends. (That little devil in me keeps me from getting that mother of the year award every time.)

There was a really great sign at the beginning of the cow pasture. It was hand-painted and written in red. The sign read, "If you're gonna cross this field, you better be able to do it in 9.9 seconds because the bull can do it in 10." I loved that sign. No matter how many times I saw it, it always made me smile. A clear case of you can take the girl out of the country but you can't take the country out of the girl. We've lived in South Florida for almost 28 years. It is a thriving metropolitan area. Two country kids from Indiana thought they found their little piece of country heaven when we found this neighborhood. But day by day and bit by bit it is disappearing. The roads are getting wider. The stores are getting bigger. Some call it progress. I say PROGRESS, SCHMOGRESS! I miss the cows.

11 comments:

Reader Wil said...

I absolutely agree with you! We still live in a quite rural area with cows and all that, but it's going to disappear. All pastures, neatly separated from each other by ditches filled with water are making place for houses and other buildings. There are already too many people in our little country, but no we have to have more. So cows must disappear.

Anonymous said...

Since I'm stuck here for a while, I got to read this before leaving. I think it's sad that so much of our wide open spaces are disappearing in the name of progress. I'm even seeing a little of that where I am in Tx, but not so much in Ok. I wouldn't know what to do if I couldn't wake up every morning and see our cows grazing in the pasture. I've got lots of pictures so I'll post them so you can see cows every day.

Pseudo said...

I loved this post. ESPECIALLY the sign. This is slightly off topic, but my favorite sign here on Oahu is in a coffee house (the real deal, not a Starbuck's) on the North Shore. The sign says, "Unattended children will be given a double shot of expresso and a free puppy."

Anonymous said...

I know what you mean. I'm so sick of progress I could scream. All of the city folk move out to my town to get to the 'country' then complain that it takes longer than 2 minutes to drive to the store. Thus, the stores come too. Now I live in the city.

Lori said...

I understand how you feel. This is why we choose to live where we live right now. Sometimes I wish to live in a bigger city with more opportunities for work and entertainment kinds of stuff. I live in a small farming rural community and although we now have a Walmart, it is still pretty small and thankfully not a lot of buildings going up. I still see lots of pastures of cows, horses and sheep on my way to work every day. I take this stuff for granted but it's all I have known. I grew up an hour away from here, near a town of 5o, on a fairly big farm.

When I read things like this I need to be really thankful for this simple life that we live...especially for our little people. It's a pretty safe place with very little crime...and still lots of rolling fields and cows!

Since I missed reading your last couple of post until today...I will say that I am grateful for all of these things, my wonderful husband, my incredible children and grandchildren, my home, my friends and my wonderful new friends that I have made through blogs!

Anonymous said...

Miss you more and more every day! Don't worry you get the world's greatest mom award from me!

Anonymous said...

Cows...beautiful cows...i still live in a rural environment and can see the cows everyday too...plus grew up showing cattle for my dad and in 4-H shows, before i moved into the horse arena...altho i have lived (happily) in the city, not sure i could go back to it now...

Smart Mouth Broad said...

RW - I guess after reading your comment and other, it is happening all over the world.

MLS - Sounds like maybe we should all move to Oklahoma (where the wind comes sweeping down the plain) Thank you, dear, for sharing your cows with me.

PHST - I love your sign too. You should mass produce them. They are needed world wide. LOL Thanks for stopping by.

Fancy - Don't scream, just pack up, we are all moving in with Midlife Slices!

It sounds lovely where you are. If you are living the simple life, you are truly blessed.

D2 - Awwww, ain't you sweet. Love you too. (Isn't she a darling child!)

Thistle - If you ever get back into showing cattle, I'm a whiz at teasing tails. I haven't done it for awhile but I'm sure I could pick it up again in no time. LOL!

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Anonymous said...

lol..AMEN!

Loved this post.

I moved from a small town to a HUGE subarb of Atlanta and boy do I miss every freakin' thing.

I feel your pain....

Smart Mouth Broad said...

Slick - Thanks for stopping by.