I sometimes jokingly say I grew up in a cow-town of sorts in South Jersey (Mt. Holly NJ). A place that straddles that sometimes thin line between suburbia and rural farmland. While there were indeed modern, air-conditioned grocery stores and such, there were also several family farms dotted along the long stretches of wooded roads… It was always a special treat each summer to visit nearby Sunnyside Farms for freshly made icecream and where my grandparents would also buy our fresh milk and butter for that week there instead of the regular market.

The pics of all the bovine beauties featured in this TFG blogpost were taken during my more grown-up years: the group shot on top is from upstate NY from about a decade ago when Iived in Molly O’Neill’s attic way up in Rensselaerville, NY along with a dozen 20-something year olds as we were all partaking in an intensive LongHouse Food Media Laboratory Internship Program (which is a whole ‘nother story for a whole ‘nother blogpost quite frankly)…

Anyway, the solo shot of the sista gurl cow (if you look closely —she appears to be throwing me some serious side-eye ‘shade’) in that next photo was taken circa 2021 in beautiful SUNNY Santa Barbara Ca. I think she’s throwing ME shade ‘cause SHE coulda used some actual shade (or sunglasses or sumthin since the sun was SO bright — and HOT — that late September day in Central Cali). Either way, this short & semi-sweet post is a shout out to her and all the cows everywhere who provide us Americans with so, SO much and yet are taken for granted more so than being thought of with any inklings of gratitude on any given day. Which is why I didn’t want to miss this ‘holiday’. And i’m happy that each of these semi-bucolic cow scenes I captured on my iphone shows these gals (& at least one guy — see him in the group pic?) living what appeared to be pretty good lives, on both coasts…