I will admit a weakness... animals! I have always loved them and have no question they have taught me more than I can ever imagine. Please meet Clover, our first cow!
I have always loved cows, and not in the carnivorous way! While I never had had one, or even had experience with them, I have always loved their beautiful eyes, slow movements and seeming indifference to people. At least that is what I thought....
While on vacation five years ago I was reading the great book: The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food, and Love by Kristin Kimball. I was struck by the passage that discussed how disconnected we have become from our food. As an example she talked about how the milk tasted different in the spring because the cows were eating new sweet grass and that came though in the milk flavor. Of course that makes sense, but how cool to be so connected with the land, the seasons, our animals and our food. Nutrition and health has always been very important to me, but imagine taking that a step further and teaching that first hand to our children! Setting into motion a new generation of healthy kids who love and understand food and its source. So, in this moment, I looked over at my husband, and out of the blue said... "babe, I think we should get a cow!" Thank God I am married to an understanding soul who is always game for something new. The next spring, we welcomed a 17 day old Jersey heifer into our lives. She is phenomenal! Indeed, we have taught ourselves and our girls the magic of nature. How the more we give to Clover in love, attention, food and space, the more she gives us. We have made yogurt, cheese, butter, ice cream and enjoyed the process of milking and sharing with our neighbors. The whole process brought us together as a family and through it all we provided nutrition to our community and gave back to all that have helped us.
So it started with a dream years ago that I never imagined would evolve into anything, but then I jumped. I started moving forward and took a step, one step towards my vision. How many dreams do you have? Sometimes the idea of the whole dream is paralyzing so we stop dreaming. Please don't do that. Pull it apart and find the reasons why, not the reason why-not. Take ONE step forward. Enlist others to help you, to hold you accountable. Say your dream out loud and hold your vision in front of you.
One step....GO!