Cow Pies and Song

The pasture finally got cleaned out.  My teenager daughters and husband headed out in the afternoon and didn't finish until almost seven.  They took turns driving the baby tractor and shoveling cow pies.  Using the trailer rather than wheelbarrows meant fewer trips but there was a lot to pick up.  The loads were dumped into the garden in an area that needs organic matter.

As they were working, my daughters started singing, like they always do.  Apparently they were singing "I kissed a girl," when Christina turned around, inspiring them.  They turned it into "I kissed a cow's ass," and a parody was born:

-I kissed a cow’s ass and I hated it
-‘cause it was covered in shit.
-I kissed a cow’s ass and I despised it
-it was so unpleasant.
-It felt so wrong; it wasn’t right.
-Never gonna do it again in my life.
-I kissed a cow’s ass and I hated it.

-This was never the way I planned, not my intention
-I got so brave taking dares, lost my discretion.
-It’s not what good girls do, not how they should behave
-my mouth is so dir-doo, gross, all the way.

Dir-doo is our two-year-old's way of saying dirty.  Between driving the baby tractor and cracking themselves up with their parody, blaming it all on the effects of too much cow pie shoveling, they seemed to have a good time.  They'll never admit it, but when they come inside with smiles and no complaints, I take that as a good time in teenage-ese.

Teenagers are the worst at saying what they need.  They are accomplished at demanding what they want, but what they need is a different matter.  This satisfaction I see in my daughters must speak to a sense of contentment in our lifestyle.  We talk about the industrial food system and contrast the way our food originates.  But I think there is more.  I think they are feeling the sacredness of the land and a sacredness in the food they eat.  It is good to be part of something sacred.

When they came inside, we had dinner ready.  Almost everything was homegrown — onions, peppers, zucchini, corn, tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and broccoli.  Only the meat and spices were off-homestead.  This is one our favorite recipes, Stuffed Zucchini from Simply in Season.  It was a good close to a good day.