My Time and Place Around the Cows

In this article, My Time and Place Around Cows, the author discusses how raising cows in his life has affected how he views his place in the world and how it all works and falls into place. Dave Stewart, the author,  starts off by discussing the “alchemical” process that cows take to create milk. After that Stewart, talks about how him and his cows have a harmonious relationship. The cows give Stewart milk while he keeps the pastures free from their “natural enemies, trees.” Stewart later discuss how the cows have made him respect were the products that are on the shelves at the grocery store come from.

I agree with the messages in the article. These messages are; the power of growing your own food, animals improving your life, and the connection that animals give you to your ancestors.   

Stewart is showing the power of raising, or growing, your own food. My family has our own garden in our backyard and when you work on the garden you get a feeling of satisfaction that is hard to top. When it finally comes time to pick the tomatoes, peppers, and basil you feel satisfied that you were able to grow your own food and have a skill that could save your life one day.

I also agree with his message that raising animals will improve your life and give you more of an understanding of our world and how it affects us in modern day. Stewart gives a good example of this in this quote, “After dinner, my kids undo time by making ice cream soup out of the laboriously frozen product that had been my goal minutes before.”

I feel that by raising animals it gives us a connections to our ancestors. “Morning and night, I, like my grandfather the dairy farmer before me, confirm Orion’s progress through New Hampshire’s dark winter skies.” This backs of my statement because it shows Stewart's connection to his grandfather. Stewarts is show that he thinks of himself as a similar person to his grandfather because of his connection to the farm and the cows.

In conclusion I think that the article, My Time and Place Around Around Cows, shows how live raising livestock, or plants, can connect you to the area around you and to your ancestors. Farming connects you to the world around you. As you, the farmer, dictates what crops grow and observes as they reach maturity. The crops being harvested and finally getting a grasp of what happens to get the food to your table.