Sept. 11, 2004 ~ Hay days
This morning I turned on the TV and was surprised to see cartoons. We only get the one channel, so maybe there were tributes or moments of silence on other channels, maybe not. Maybe we as a nation are worn out from remembering and worrying and being sad. A friend's husband, a pilot, has a flight out of NYC today. Wonder what was going through his mind this morning...
Husband is moving hay today. It's a time-consuming process because he can only move three large bales per trip. Takes him about an hour or more to make one trip. At this point we've decided to buy extra hay, instead of spraying poison on the little varmints. I really don't like to use chemicals or poison of any kind, and spraying seems especially harsh. Our cows would be eating that poisoned grass, and some of you might be eating our cows. Kind of makes you think, doesn't it? There are various chemicals and/or shots we use on our cattle, and often the product labels will say "Not to be used in beef cattle within 45 days of slaughter" because the chemical remains in their system that long. We try to follow the guidelines, but there are people who pay no attention, who sell their animals within days of worming them, for example. A lot of our neighbors eat their own beef (from cattle they've raised) for this reason, because they want to know exactly what medications or chemicals have been used on that animal, and when. I have never wanted to eat an animal I've raised, but I can certainly see the advantages. I just don't think I'd have the heart to do it. A good friend and I were just talking about this yesterday. They raise beef for their freezer, and have done this for a couple of years now. She said it was hard, at first, and she just had to put it out of her mind. Logically, there's no difference between eating beef you buy at the grocery store and beef you have raised. Except... well, I guess I'm just funny that way.
Some things defy logic.
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