Not a great pic, but here is the group of “My Cows” (9803 is in there somewhere!)

Okay, I have been told on several occassions that I am kind of weird – maybe it’s true, maybe it’s not. But, either way, I am confident enough to share with you my life and let YOU decide!

Having said that, I must catch my beloved 2.78 readers up!

Living in the beloved “Inland Empire” of Southern California, I have many ways to drive home from work that avoid the dreaded freeways. As we are surrounded by dairy farms in bordering cities, I usually drive past several farms on a daily basis. (And no, I do NOT smell the cows anymore!) One dairy is located on a corner where there is a stop sign. Over the months I began to “bond” with the cows on this farm, as they would eat their hay right on the corner and, being a smaller farm, it was easy to see the same cows day after day.

So, you ask, how do I know they are the same cows? Well, first of all, cows have personalities! But probably more importantly, they have ear tags……

ANYWAY, each morning I would REALLY stop at this stop sign (no California roll for me there!) and either verbally or mentally say “Hello my cows! How is everyone today?” Further, there was one cow that seems to have an awesome personality, and over the the course of time we bonded. This cow is named “My Cow”, or cow 9803. When I would look at them, she often would lift her head in such a way that it seemed she was saying “‘Sup?”. I love her. I often would find myself scanning the tags so quickly on my way home (when I didn’t have the benefit of the stop sign) to just check on her. Her orange tag would shine for me and all would be good in the world.

Except on day I drove by and there were no orange tags! The cows eating the hay had very small blue tags and, well, were not my cows! I was heartbroken because THESE cows didn’t have a bond with me. And most concerning, where was MY cow?!?!!?! Then I would wonder, would the owner of the farm think I am weird if I asked where 9803 went? Probably, nix that idea.

Frantic thoughts went through my mind – okay, dairy farms don’t sell their cows for meat factories, do they? What happens if the cow gets old and doesn’t produce milk? What if they sold the cows and now they are in Ohio or something and the winters will be so much harder for them? (See, I HAVE seen the commercials about California Cows being much happier!)

All these thoughts swirled in my mind for weeks. With each drive by, my heart became more hardened. I didn’t even LOOK at the new cows! The lack of my big orange tag sent depression through my veins.

Until YESTERDAY!

I was driving home, purposely driving past the corner acting as if I really didn’t care that my cow was gone and that is SO STUPID anyway because seriously, they are just cows and I should just be glad there is milk in my fridge. Then, after I passed the usual location on the corner, I proceeded down the street. This area has a larger field that usually has cows, but they would not often congregate at the gate as they would on the corner. Today, however, there were several cows hanging out at the fence. Suddenly, something caught my eye – a big, orange tag! Slamming on my brakes, I looked and the number was 9803! MY COW!!!!!

I wish I could say that I hung out and conversed with my beloved cow, catching up on her life that I have missed for the last few weeks. However, the car approaching behind me ruined our reunion – sheesh! But my heart is so much better now that I know she is safe and sound on the dairy farm!

So, if you’ve noticed I’ve been a little down, this was the cause and now I am better!

Okay, so maybe I’m a little weird.