I cannot pass a field of cows without shouting “moo!” at them.
This unfortunate condition began when Paul took me to Topsfield Fair in Massachusetts during my first year living in New England. It was the first time I’d been to an agricultural fair, and I had a great time. It was there that I met Mable.
Mable was the sweetest, friendliest cow you’d ever want to meet. Now while I’m certainly no expert, having met exactly one (1) cow so far in my lifetime, I think it may be pretty safe for me to make that assumption. She looked me right in the eye, and practically begged for skritches behind her ear. Before that I had always assumed that skritches were exclusively for cats, but that afternoon Mable set me straight on that account.
Her handler came over and told us that Mable loved attention and was a real ‘people-cow’. I gazed into her big brown eyes and fell right in love with her. I wanted to take her home with us, but Paul wouldn’t let me, the meanie. But he promised me that one day we would have a farm and I could have a cow just like Mable. I think I’m going to have to track her down, because I want Mabel, not a-cow-just-like-Mabel. Seriously though, I hope to God that she’s living with a nice family somewhere giving milk and getting skritches every day.
So, now I love cows, thanks to Mabel. And I get excited every time I see a group of them in a field and I can’t help but want to get their attention. So of course I say ‘moo!’, and not ‘hey you there, cow!’ because that would be disrespectful.
