Why do they just stand there?

I think if you were to ask most of my friends and family they would describe me as intelligent. Some might even say very intelligent. I have a confession, I have always prided myself on being of above average intelligence. You know what they say, Pride goeth before the fall.

Born and raised in southern California I love my Missouri home and rural setting. I love looking out over the green pastures and drive down the dusty back roads just to catch a glimpse or two of the local wild life.


I have to say my blondest moment came last winter when one day, during one of those rides, I realized that the thoughts I had at that particular moment were so... Dumb!

I was driving down the road admiring the beauty of the snow falling on the fields when a thought crossed my mind. "Stupid cows! Why do they just stand there letting the snow pile up on there backs? I mean, really? Why are they so dumb? Don't they have the commonsense to get in out of the weather." And yes I continued with the racing random thoughts until finally it occurred to me, "Mary! Where do you think they are going to go!"

Ummmm. Well. Hmmmm. I had literally hit a brick wall in the thought process. I sat there dumbfounded and speechless(in the "talking to myself" sense)"What the hell made me think the cows were dumb"

I guess its another thing that we don't think about really until we come face to face with real life. I always thought that cows lived in a barn. They did when we played with the Little People Farm as kids. They live in a barn in the books we read as children. Old McDonald had a farm, where did all his animals live? Not in the house with him, I'll tell you that much!

Even as a kid in the brief time we live in Monroe City, MO and my dad had cows, when we went to the farm the kids were told to stay out of the cow barn. It never entered my 10 year old brain that the cows didn't live in there! They were milked and sent back out to the field.

How may I ask is a girl born and raised in Southern California supposed to know that I have been lied to my whole life and that the messy truth of it all is that the poor cows in the field don't go home because they ARE home?

Now here I am as an adult trying to justify the fact that something so elementary was so long lost on me. I kind of had to admit to myself and to others around me that I am not as smart as a 5Th grader. Around here apparently there are kindergartners that have a leg up on my city girl state of reality.

I guess they also say You learn something new everyday.

Lord, I pray that my next life lesson doesn't make me feel so blond.