I have been working at a credit union as a teller for the summer. I work with a bunch of awesome ladies and since I can't bring my job to the ranch, I bring the cattle to work. I have a picture of a few of my family's Angus cows and calves in the pasture as my desktop background. Mary, the gal who did my training noticed it, and commented, "your cows look so cute with their little earrings." With a smile I answered that ear tags are more like name tags than jewelry. We then went on to discuss what it was like to grow up on a ranch, particularly the the less than popular subject of the processing of 4-H projects at the end of each summer. A few of my fellow tellers were listening so I explained how the process of raising a project then having that project become the food that actually feeds your family is actually a great lesson to learn as a child. Death is a reality of life, and the calves that I showed aren't cruelly killed for no reason, but they serve the purpose of providing an important source of zinc, iron and protein for my family, and that's not sad at all.
I'm not sure she completely understood, but another fellow teller did. She said she had never really thought of it that way, and I was pretty excited. I enjoy the conversations that let me tell a little of my story and educate a few friends about beef and the folks that raise it.
Winter brings a new calf crop and so the cycle of life on a cattle ranch begins again
'till the cows come home,
Ellie
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