Nature Journal: Part 9

For my 9th nature journal, I chose to write about my time observing a herd of cattle next to Press Café. In preparation for the Cowtown Half-Marathon this spring, I have been spending my Saturday mornings running from my house to Clearfork and back. Once I make it to Clearfork, I usually spend some time resting at Press Café. Directly to the North of Press Café is a modestly sized pasture with a small herd of cattle. Although I usually just sit down and relax, this time I decided to see what was going on inside the pasture. From the fence line, I could only see four cows. It appeared to be three older cows and one smaller calf. As I approached the edge of the pasture, the cows grew more interested. In fact, they even took a couple steps towards me. Two of the adult cows were colored light brown with white patches while the other adult was large and black. The calf was a very dark brown and covered in what appeared to me mud. The small herd was content standing in the pasture eating grass. The pasture was about ankle high and appeared to be more than enough for the herd. There was a group of flies and gnats that surrounded the adults and calf. The way the calf was walking around playfully in the pasture made me contemplate the idea of anthropomorphism and how the small calf resembled a child playing in the yard. I have struggled with the idea of anthropomorphism as I can see emotion clearly in animals like my dog, or the calf I was just talking about but I have a hard time believing that insects and fish can display emotion.