Thursday, May 24, 2012

Over by The God School, Steer With a Toothache...and Ultrarunning

Tuesday when the bride dropped me off on her way to work and I ran home, I decided to take the road past what I call The God School.  I forget the actual name of the school, but it's a small Mennonite school, say with about 4 classrooms.  Many of the local Mennonites--perhaps most--do not send their kids to public school.  So The God School is one of their education sites (I know, me being slightly disrespectful here is probable cause for banishment to hell).

But the point of this post isn't The God School.  It's what's right beside The God School: a cow pasture.  The farmer is pasturing a bunch of steers (beef cattle) there.  I don't know my cattle breeds very well; perhaps these are Black Angus because these steers are almost totally black in color, save for some small white patches on a few individuals.

Except for the one steer with the odd, extensive white coloration on his head.  This guy has a white chin, white extending back along both jawlines, black cheeks and face, then white across the top of his head between his ears.  The rest of him is all black.

From a distance, I swore the animal was wearing a bandage wrapped around his head as though he had a toothache (like in old movies).  Alternatively I thought he could have had a forehead injury, bandaged, with a securing wrap down around the chin to keep it in place.  When I got closer I saw that it was natural, and not a bandage.

I didn't have my camera but I may pack it next time, as this critter was very strikingly colored.

Oh, and the link to Ultrarunning?  Nothing direct...just the notion that every run, however mundane, presents opportunities to learn, to be amazed by our world, to be caused to smile.  And runs in the backcountry are especially rich in potential for wonder.

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