We have a few cows that we raise for beef and when a bull is part of the equation we end up with calves. I’m not going to go into the inner workings of that, but I am going to talk about what it does to the heard. We have a varying number of cows out in the field at any one time. I think we have had as many as seven and currently have only three. The number doesn’t matter and the age of the heard doesn’t seem to matter either. Our oldest cow, chocolate chip, who is around fourteen years old still participates in this fun event.

Our playful young claves at the age of a couple months have a routine that they all do. In the evening around 7:00 they just start to run. Watching a calf run is cute to watch but what is hilarious is watching the rest of the heard join in. What we end up with is the giant, not so graceful, beasts doing laps around the field. The calf, in our current case Coco, starts running and right behind him are giant Chocolate Chip and Margaret chasing after!

The types of cows we have are Dutch Belted and look like Oreo cookies. So, on any given night while we have a calf in the field there is a parade of giant Oreo’s racing around our field. The entertainment value is great but it’s also tremendous to see the energy this little calf can bring. For a couple months while this calf has the youthful energy it will be able to inspire these giants, not really designed for running, to go for an evening jaunt around the field.

There is a lot to be learned from these cows. More often we need to let the young around us give us a boost. They have plenty to give and love nothing more than when adults join in the fun. It is easy to sit around being a curmudgeon, but it is just as easy to join in the fun forgetting just how old and lame we have become. Next time you find yourself among the young bouncing off the walls jump on in and join the mayhem. It will take an otherwise annoying experience and turn it into an energy boost.