Happy Cows and Stuff

Although I am back to the swing of things, my mind wanders a bit to the past weekend of fun with my friend, Sharon Lumby. Sharon and I worked together at the City of Lake Elmo for 6 years. She is the City Clerk and I was the assistant to the City Planner. After finishing my studies for Clerk Certification, I moved on to the City of Arden Hills, but Sharon and I have remained the best of friends throughout. We had not taken a journey in a long time, so this past path to Galena, Illinois was especially overdue and absolutely wonderful!
As we traveled south, I learned something about Wisconsin that I had never experienced. The terrain is so beautiful-rolling rills, with high buttes and cliffs along the Mississippi River; deep valleys with farmsteads showing a patchwork of tilled farmland and alfalfa fields. What impressed me more than ever was all the happy cows!!! Our dairy farm was not one of those corporate deals where the cows are milked three times a day, and not allowed to be in a verdent and lush pasture between milkings. We saw literally hundreds of Holstiens, and many, many calves of all sorts-darling little white-faced babes frolicking and playing in the sun. Did you know that cows have a babysitter for the little ones while the rest of them are off grazing? Yep, it's true! But, back to the Wisconsin I had never known. I was thinking about how I would love to travel to Europe sometime, Paris, London, Venice...the artwork and architecture and so on. However, there is so much of America I have not seen. I'd been to Galena before, but did not take the Wisconsin route, and I was very surprised at its beauty. The locks along the river were quiet, as the wind was blowing so much, river traffic was non-existent. The Mississippi was high and the islands were flooded. Most of the trees and shrubs were already budded out and greener than here further north. I learned that sometimes, the most enjoyable and simple joys are practically right out your back door.