John decided he would catch the goat to inspect the offending eye. He had just purchased a very biblical-looking goat-catching staff, a long stick with a little U shaped end in which you can supposedly catch a goat by the leg, and was eager to try it out.
It is strange - even when I know I am angry and think to myself "self, why are you so wound up?" I sometimes hear back that I WANT to be in a rage. I feel entitled to yell or be angry. I think, chemically speaking, that is just adrenaline answering back, but overriding that feeling is all part of the game of staying calm.
This is a wonderful, philosophical meditation. Patience and perseverance, patience and perseverance. Thank you. This piece conjures up many old memories from our livestock days.
Loved this! Why is it so satisfying in the moment to be angry? I don’t know, but in my better moments, I can step outside of myself and ask if I HAVE to react like this? Thank you for the reminder to keep practicing.
I LOVE how you process the madness from the present and are also present in the madness. It rings true when we assess whether the stress is worth the damage it does to ourselves and our relationships. Bless you for sharing your humanity and making us all feel normal.
This is so great! It reminds me of a few weeks ago, after spending the weekend with a group of youth church choir alumni that I had grown up with, and having this immense sense of grace and joy after the weekend was over. The next day, I was walking in the park, and … well, I won’t go into it but a friend and I got into our “own brand of goat chase.”
Where the heck did that come from, I thought, and where did that feeling of peace I had been feeling go? It was saddening, but I also realize that goat chases are going to be a part of life with others.
It is amazing how fleeting emotions can be. I hope that realizing the goat chase is even happening is a good first step in learning how NOT to get so wound up.
He raises 30,000 head of cattle each year in long feeding barns of his own design. At the end of one, he has built a wood-paneled whiskey room with big glass windows where he can sit and watch his cows.
The 2,000 animals in the barn live on perforated rubber floors through which they push their manure into a concrete basement. Long feeding troughs, filled by trucks, run along both sides of the barn. The interior columns are rounded to protect animals from bruising. The roof is peaked to draw air upward. The design allows one person to tend hundreds of cows. Mr. Tentinger built the first such barn for his brother’s farm. His construction company now builds about 15 barns a year in Iowa and surrounding states.”
A couple hour later, I read Art Cullen's column, "Hey China, let's do lunch."
It seems the current economic system is demanding us to choose between feeding the world and living in peace or destroying our planet.
Thanks JD for your comments. I am hoping to write more about the support for "small" farms that Sec of Ag Vilsak recently announced (and you are referring to in your comments)--which is actually funding for one farm (yes, only one) in Iowa that raises 30,000 head of cattle a year. It is mostly disappointing because it is again "small-washing" - making it SOUND like the Biden administration supports smaller agriculture when it is really just more of the same. That makes me incredibly frustrated.
But there is a lot of research which says clearly that we DO NOT need to choose "feeding the world" and living in peace and taking care of the planet. The two are much more compatible than large agricultural companies who make money off the current system would have you think. Diversifying our food system makes good economic AND ecological sense and would provide Iowa farmers with more opportunity.
I'd be happy to discuss it more with you! Thanks for reading.
It is strange - even when I know I am angry and think to myself "self, why are you so wound up?" I sometimes hear back that I WANT to be in a rage. I feel entitled to yell or be angry. I think, chemically speaking, that is just adrenaline answering back, but overriding that feeling is all part of the game of staying calm.
Beth— Delightful! Now I know the origin of the old saying “that really gets my goat!”
This is a wonderful, philosophical meditation. Patience and perseverance, patience and perseverance. Thank you. This piece conjures up many old memories from our livestock days.
Loved this! Why is it so satisfying in the moment to be angry? I don’t know, but in my better moments, I can step outside of myself and ask if I HAVE to react like this? Thank you for the reminder to keep practicing.
Thank you, Beth. My oath for this day, and the next, is to stop chasing "goats"!
Excellent meditation!
Patience and perseverance! The dynamic duo of farming.
I LOVE how you process the madness from the present and are also present in the madness. It rings true when we assess whether the stress is worth the damage it does to ourselves and our relationships. Bless you for sharing your humanity and making us all feel normal.
Thanks so much for letting me know - it is so wonderful to get positive comments from readers!
Of course. My pleasure!
This is so great! It reminds me of a few weeks ago, after spending the weekend with a group of youth church choir alumni that I had grown up with, and having this immense sense of grace and joy after the weekend was over. The next day, I was walking in the park, and … well, I won’t go into it but a friend and I got into our “own brand of goat chase.”
Where the heck did that come from, I thought, and where did that feeling of peace I had been feeling go? It was saddening, but I also realize that goat chases are going to be a part of life with others.
It is amazing how fleeting emotions can be. I hope that realizing the goat chase is even happening is a good first step in learning how NOT to get so wound up.
Thanks for sharing!!
Good morning Beth,
I woke up this morning reading your post:
He raises 30,000 head of cattle each year in long feeding barns of his own design. At the end of one, he has built a wood-paneled whiskey room with big glass windows where he can sit and watch his cows.
The 2,000 animals in the barn live on perforated rubber floors through which they push their manure into a concrete basement. Long feeding troughs, filled by trucks, run along both sides of the barn. The interior columns are rounded to protect animals from bruising. The roof is peaked to draw air upward. The design allows one person to tend hundreds of cows. Mr. Tentinger built the first such barn for his brother’s farm. His construction company now builds about 15 barns a year in Iowa and surrounding states.”
A couple hour later, I read Art Cullen's column, "Hey China, let's do lunch."
It seems the current economic system is demanding us to choose between feeding the world and living in peace or destroying our planet.
Which itself demands a meditation.
Your reflection helps, thank you.
Thanks JD for your comments. I am hoping to write more about the support for "small" farms that Sec of Ag Vilsak recently announced (and you are referring to in your comments)--which is actually funding for one farm (yes, only one) in Iowa that raises 30,000 head of cattle a year. It is mostly disappointing because it is again "small-washing" - making it SOUND like the Biden administration supports smaller agriculture when it is really just more of the same. That makes me incredibly frustrated.
But there is a lot of research which says clearly that we DO NOT need to choose "feeding the world" and living in peace and taking care of the planet. The two are much more compatible than large agricultural companies who make money off the current system would have you think. Diversifying our food system makes good economic AND ecological sense and would provide Iowa farmers with more opportunity.
I'd be happy to discuss it more with you! Thanks for reading.