The Now of the Cow

Cattle are having a moment. Scottish Highlands especially — the shaggy, horned supermodels of the bovine world. After a year off, my cattle (and I) have been invited back to the Highland Games in Lincoln. The games run Friday through Sunday, (Sept. 18-20) but space is tight, so the herd gets Saturday off. Even a Highland steer deserves a weekend. It's two long days for the crew, but they don't seem to mind, as long as carrots are involved.

Every year we load up Curious Bleu and his friends, and folks line up to get their picture taken with this gentle giant. My favorite part comes at the end: walking behind the fife and drum bands in the closing parade.

The beat matches Bleu's stride exactly. Or does Bleu’s stride match the drums? Either way, it's a magical moment, mostly because for a few minutes I stop rummaging around in the past and all the mistakes I've left there.

A lesson I learned from my cattle

Cattle are "Now" creatures. They let the past go where it belongs — behind them, and not to be relived. When I pay attention, I catch my mind replaying old footage, always the bad stuff, from last Tuesday or from 1982. As if remembering hard enough might change it. It can't. My mind sure tries.

Cattle don't do that. They live in the Now, always the present. I've read that children up to about age five do the same. Perhaps that's what makes them so enchanting. They don't pretend the past didn't happen — they just don't let it run the show. Watch kids on a playground. One minute they're mortal enemies, the next they're sharing a swing. Cattle are the same, minus the swing.

The Now of the Cow

Another "Now" quality of cattle: they don't worry about the future. I'm not saying don't plan. Plan your next steps, then quit fretting over them. Trust that you'll do your best, and if that doesn't work, trust yourself to find another way.

The only moment we control is this one. Cattle and small children already know it. As Emily Dickinson put it, "Forever – is composed of Nows –"

And if you'd like to practice your own "Now," book a trip to the Ultimate Cow Experience at my Loudon farm. I've got a whole herd of therapists standing by. They work for carrots.

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Carole Soule is co-owner of Miles Smith Farm in Loudon, N.H., where you can have an Ultimate Cow Experience and hug Highland Steer, Curious Bleu. Carole can be reached at carole@cow-coach.com.

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