July 10, 2021 

Anyone who has enjoyed a long walk through the countryside has no doubt, at some point, been the object of a cow's long and steady gaze. Maybe there was a pasture full of cows who all stopped grazing at the same time to take their measure of you as you were passing by. Perhaps they are only curious but I always felt like there was an element of resentment or insolence in their attention. Like the loiterers that hang out on a street corner or in front of the local convenience store, they seem to be just waiting for you to do something dumb like drop your donut. 

But the lost bovine on its own, separated from the herd and its guardian farmer is a lonely creature and subject to many existential hazards.  Much like the lone store-front idler, she has nowhere to go, no one to stare at and no one to look after her.