Once upon a time, when the earth was still flat full of green grass and blue skies, Grandma J was just a little girl.

On Sundays, after church her whole family would take a ride to her grandma and grandpas' farm. They had goats, cows, chickens, turkeys, a blind cat with no teeth and a dog or two.

Since we always wore our Sunday best on these visits, we could fill our skirts with chicken feed and run like the devil try to sprinkle it about a little at a time. But, the chickens chased us for the feed. Grandma J used her original dump and run technique.

One day, when Grandma J's father decided he had it up to here with the winter blizzards and snow shoveling, he loaded up the family and headed to California.....almost that fast!

Once in California, the Sunday drives after church were long drives to the mountains to pan for gold in the babbling streams...in our Sunday best. Sometimes we headed to the desert to hunt for treasures....ummm Grandma J's father had some strange concepts to fill the grandparent void. I mean, when you live at the beach, wouldn't it be a no brainer to stay home and frolic in the surf? Collect shells? Driftwood?

Fast forward to today. After church, Grandma J and Phillip Johnny Bob stopped and picked up JJ.

Since she was longing for the good old days, she took them for a ride to see some bulls.

Not the same pretty bulls they saw a few weeks ago...no sireeee...today it was the big black ones.

The ones with the funny duck/bird things hanging around them.

No one got too close to these guys because they were big, and not as friendly looking as the pretty brown and beige cows.

click photo to enlarge

Who knows what those feathered creatures are? What's the story here? JJ thinks they are picking bugs off the bulls? Just a wild guess! I know someone knows....please?

A Friday Evening Happening

Grandma J had the pleasure of chauffeuring her granddaughter to her "hands on" driving class early Friday evening. When I arrived at my daughter's house, JJ was like so ready for some excitement. Yes, even though it's way out of my way to bring him all the way back home, and yes even though these junkets increase the size of Grandma J's carbon footprint, I love our mini road trips.

I pass several cattle ranches on my way to just about everywhere I go around here.....I don't pay much mind to them. Most are big black cows or Texas Longhorns. Once in a while I see ducks and geese lolly gagging amongst the cattle. That's a picture I hope to capture one day.

This evening, I approached this ranch with a weathered barn and two cows.....and decided to stop. The road is just a two lane FM route, so I pulled off onto the wide shoulder. Right away JJ leaped to the passenger window....and at the same time, the two cows took notice of Grandma J's car with a wild and crazy dog growling and shaking like a leaf. Grandma J told JJ they were big girl doggies..... The rest is in pictures. And don't you just love the way Grandma J jumps from first person to third person in the same paragraph?

And yes, JJ wimpered like a little girl dog as I drove away.....

Here's a cute little song called: I Am Cow