Thursday, November 20, 2008

COW-a-bunga

If only cows knew me. This mommy today at Garin was very hesitant about letting me and my boy pass her on the trail. I said a few soothing words and she finally stepped aside. I am probably one of the last people on earth that would hurt one of these. Big. Little. Udders. No udders. Horns. No horns. I don't care. I love them all. If it was me and a world full of cows, they would outlive me. I think a baby cow is one of the cutest things around. They completely make me melt. I stopped eating beef when I was 18 years old. I went to a petting zoo and they had something posted about the baby cow that was just born. They were saying how much it weighs now and how big the mommy was and how much bigger this baby had to get before it too could be auctioned off for meat. WTF?! Right then and there, I declared I was not going to be any part of it. In Fremont, there used to be a slaughter house, meat factory, whatever you want to call it. I was riding my bike by it one day and there was a truck parked out front, full of cattle. I stopped my bike, ran over and opened the doors so the cattle could run free. I never did hear about a bunch of cattle partying because they'd been let free right in front of where they were going to be killed, so I don't know if my plan worked. In my head my plan was a huge success. I had freed cows from certain death. I was only 16 or so. Cut me some slack, will ya? My life long dream has been to kiss a cow right on their big ol' nose. I just adore them.

Seeing that I am now 44 years old, being 18 was a long, long time ago. Over the years I have gone back to eating beef for a very short spell, just once or twice. Once when Keith and I tried the Atkins diet and I don't remember the other time. Even then, it was ground beef, mostly for hamburgers. I haven't had a steak or anything like that since I was 18. I eat fish, chicken, and I use ground turkey to cook things that usually contain ground beef. Yes, Keith is a big beef lover but he never complains about me cooking with ground turkey.


So, back to my run today. I ran five miles out at Garin with Boomer. It's very hard to believe two months ago today was my first 50k and now I'm thrilled that I get to run five miles. I'll be back up to ultra status again soon. I've got a lot of faith.

Oh Victoria -- if you do come run with me on Sunday morning, I'll take you on a different five mile loop where there are no cows. ;)

7 comments:

Victoria said...

Good. Cows= don't like dogs too much. At least, the ones at Wildcat and Briones don't like dogs. I myself don't like cows.

Rick Gaston said...

I've always wanted to go as a cow for a Halloween. I love beef but I've cut down, especially this year. It's helped my weight and undoubtedly my heart. All that saturated fat is no good. Now if I can just cut down on the sweets.

leslie said...

I LOVE that you love cows! I've been veg for a couple of years now because I don't want to eat dead stuff. And when I ran a half marathon in Lodi in May, I told every cow I ran past (dairy farms) "Don't worry -- I'm not going to eat you!"

Jo Lynn said...

Victoria, I always leash Boomer when cows are around. Cows definitely give me more trouble with him around.
LOL Rick! Cutting down on sweets just isn't an option.
Yup Leslie -- if cows only had a sixth sense about people, huh?

Southbaygirl said...

I love cows and so does Velcro!!! She would have been in cattle dog heaven if she had seen a cow today!! And I don't eat meat either-just fish!!

Marcy said...

I think the prob with most peeps is that they really don't know how the meat gets to the table. We just see it in the grocery store, ya know? I think a lot of us would change our minds if we knew how they butchered them.

I'm not a veg or anything but since finding out how they kill and keep some of the cows, my beef consumption has cut way down.

Like Rick, candy and sweets? now that's a whole other story for me LMAO!

Jo Lynn said...

Southbay Girl -- Does Velcro chase the cows? Boomer did that once and he got chased back. Since then, he gives them their space.
Marcy - whenever I see the disgraceful way cows are treated, I'm so glad I don't eat them. They deserve to be respected.