Fall calves - Pt II

* Editors note: I hope we're not starting a pattern.

I have previously mentioned some of the antics of the local bovine popluation on my way to work. It is amazing what I see and keep to myself daily as I drive to work...at 70 m.p.h. Then suddenly it jumps back at you in a memory that gives you somehting to think about. In this case, it was a great split-second image that is just burned into my memory. Nothing profound...just something to share. And, an appreciation for God's handywork in nature.

We had recently had several days of overcast skies. If you are from south Texas, where we are so used to having so many clear days, not seeing the sun for a few days can have an affect on us that is really hard to describe. Listlessness, slugishness, depression (not the major kind), just a generally feel of...blah. On this particular morning, where the season was turning from summer to autumn, the sun had come out, sharp and bright. The temperature was cool and just invigorating. But, there was also extra humidy in the air. So what do you get when you combine autumn, cool nights, warm days, moderate humidity? Fog. Not the kind that socks in (or as Robert Frost would describe as that which comes in on "little cat's paws" - I think that's right, if not close), but the kind that clings to the grass and fields and does not seem to move anywhere. It just stays in one place and disappears as quickly as it appears.

On this day I was driving east on Hwy 97 in Atascosa County nearing the San Jose Cattle Company. About a mile-and-a-half before the main entrance to the cattle company, the road takes a large dip down and then begins a slow climb up past the gate. There is a large oak tree on the right just as you start into the dip. Through the tree, the sun was shining literal beams of light through the leaves and branches. Just past the tree and just off the road, there is a small pond and one of the gates that cattle go through from pasture to pasture. Immediately past this is a small fenced in pasture that the cattle are sometimes forced through. It is a small triangular field in which there is some brush growing. At one time the entire place was clean of brush, but, from what I know, hard times required cut backs on the ranch and brush has been allowed to reaccumulate.

Anyway, on this particular day there was a low grey/silver fog on the ground that came up to about the shoulder (do cows have shoulders?) of the cattle. They were standing among the brush with the sunlight bouncing off the fog giving the upper part of the humidity a golden hue while the rest remained that grey/silver. Some of the cows had their heads down grazing so it looked like some were just without a head. Those that had their head up, chewing their cud, appeared to be taking it all in. The brush was a dark brown that stuck out of the fog and did not appear to have any connection with the ground. It was a moment that, if captured on film, probably would not have the stupendousness about it. It was captured in the moment while driving and the beauty was wrapped in the whole of the area. Having looked at this scene so many times in the years that I have driven back and forth to work, I could almost imagine what the rest of the fields and pastures looked like at that moment.

Just thought I'd share this with you.