this is winnie

"the dairy cow doesn't ask for much but she asks every day." -keeping a family cow

there has become something unavoidably final about our recent acquisition of a milking cow. winnie. she is so sweet. a little skinny. so beautiful. so patient with my fumbling cold hands. so giving. she is there. morning and night. every day. she lets out a great low bellow when she hears the clanking of our arrival in the parlor. washing up before milking. we've taken her calf away from her and now it is completely on us to see this through. morning and night. every day. 

it is a responsibility to animals we have never held on our own. it makes this journey to farming feel more definite. no more nighttime outings to movies, to dinner, to friends, until we have milked. no more sleepins with nick. no more leisurely breakfasts before chores. no more weekends away together, until we find a capable farm-sitter. but i don't feel the loss of these things yet. i don't doubt that will come. but in this first week i -perhaps naively- only feel the excitement and ease in having her there in the barn. morning and night.