Written by When I first started sketching and painting, I used to paint lots of landscapes, but then quickly moved to just sketching stuff instead. Landscapes just didn’t hold my interest, though I do rather love sketching animals, so for today’s prompt of landscape, mine will be interrupted by this cow. Cows fascinate me because it’s rather difficult to guess what they might be thinking. This one could be sleepy, or a bit bored, or plotting to take over the world. It’s just impossible to tell really. Or perhaps, it’s simply thinking, “the next time someone ‘moos’ at me while passing in a car, I’m totally going to lose it!” But mooing at cows was quite a treat as a kid. I’m not quite sure why we only felt we could talk to cows. We didn’t really neigh at horses very often or attempt to communicate with chickens that passed by. Cows, though, were apparently just there waiting to have a little chat with us and so we always obliged. Looking back, they don’t really seem like chatty creatures at all and were probably just wishing we’d hurry up and pass by so they could enjoy a bit of peace and quiet.
Though I was often around cows for long periods of time on my grandmother’s farm they were always a mystery to me. It was years later that I learned they are actually rather intelligent animals who may seem to live a carefree and even dull life, but they have the ability to remember things for quite a long time. They will develop grudges against other cows who mistreat them and possibly irritating humans who like to moo at them while driving by. They are good at problem-solving and have been known to heroically escape slaughter by leaping a tall fence and then traveling miles to reunite with their calf. This isn’t really all that surprising. No animal ever really wants to be separated from its family. And lastly, they possess an emotional complexity that gives them another interesting ability. One that is often thought to only be something humans would ever bother doing. They have the ability to worry about the future.
This fact was the most startling, as I always thought we humans were the only ones bothering to fret about what will come next. I always assumed animals were just a bit smarter than we were on that front and could happily roll with the moment without letting something that hasn’t actually happened yet affect them. So, in some ways it’s a bit comforting to know that many living beings contemplate what the future might hold. I can spend countless moments wondering and worrying about what might or might not come next. But, in those moments, I always have to remind myself that the future is not entirely in my control. And honestly, what’s happening in this very moment, is probably the most important thing of all. Something to relish and enjoy. Don’t get me wrong it’s good to think ahead on things, but only if it’s part of planning, with no real worrying at all. At least that’s what I know in my heart. So, I have to wonder sometimes, why I can still find myself side-stepping the present to worry about the future, like a cow in the field.
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Cows may not be chatty but how can anyone resist those eyes.
Thanks so much, Mary! 😃💕 Glad you liked this… cows are actually rather tough to sketch! hehe
Yes, they are. Tried sketching one the other day and it ended up looking like a lump of charcoal…hehehe.
lol! I’m pretty sure I have several initial sketches that are lumps of charcoal in my sketchbooks that were supposed to be animals. 😊I just hop to a new page and smile!
Lovely cow, but I especially like the simple background.
Thanks, Sharon! 😃💕 Yay! hehe… you liked my landscape… which was the actual prompt after all. So glad you did!
Some cow! To paraphrase Charlotte😁. The farmer whose pasture abutted my back yard passed away a few years ago, so alas, no more cows or horses visiting me over the fence. I miss those guys. They always shut up and just listened.
Thanks, Lisa! 😃💕 hehe… love that! What a great concept!
I have been replying to oldest ones first in my attempt to catch up, but
when I saw that awesome cow, I could not pass it by. It looks exactly like
Daisy, our Guernsey cow. We had many dairy cattle but Daisy was a pet.
We rode on her back, gave her baths with the garden hose, and let her roam
around the yard at will (until she inadvisedly ate the gladiolas that Mother
was planning to win a blue ribbon with at the county fair. After that indiscretion
Daisy was confined to the pasture or the barn…Quite an affront for our moo cow
calendar girl.
Re: cows thinking…My dad used to recite this little poem:
They are so much alike,
the cud chewing cow
and the gum chewing child,
and yet, there’s a difference somehow,
Ah, yes, I have it now,
It’s the thoughtful expression
on the face of the cow.
The best of the best is:
” I always have to remind myself that the future is not entirely in my control. And honestly, what’s happening in this very moment, is probably the most important thing of all.”
Yes!!!
Thanks so much, Sarah! 😃💕 Awww I adore that story so much and that poem is amazing!! Daisy sounds like a wonderful creature indeed! Love it!
Growing up their used to always be fields with cows, sheep or horses everywhere I went where now I have to travel many miles to see any. I miss them. Your lovely cow brings back many memories of days gone by.
Thanks, Sandra! 😃💕 Yeah… we live in the city now and only see cows when traveling to our annual family reunion. I miss those days when they were around more often.
What a fun read! I love the cow and am thinking about what it must be thinking!
Thanks so much, Zertab! So happy you enjoyed this post! 😃💕
Wah kya bate hene, what the impression seen on her face yes she is having a nep after the lunch. Shade and all super.
Thanks lie.
Thanks so much, Snehlata! 😃💕 This one was fun to paint!
Wonderful post, Charlie, and I love your painting. I did not know those things about cows, but I assume most animals are smarter than we think. We are just too human-centered to understand them and we lack empathy as mankind. After all we are also just an animal, the one thinking it is smarter than all the rest – while destroying its one and only home (-planet)… Yes, we’re really the smartest kind 😉 Have a wonderful weekend! 💕
Thanks, Ann! 😃💕 Sooooo true!! Ugh… humans are strangely entitled animals. Cows might just know a thing or two more than we do! hehe Hope you have a wonderful weekend as well!
This is so cool!👏👏😊
Thanks so much!! 😃💕
Grest job on the whole scene. The different shades of green really highlight the cow. The cow’s expression is priceless. Good advice on living in the moment.
Thanks, June! 😃💕 Yeah, I don’t really do landscapes alone…. seems to be missing a bit of story for me and don’t know what I’d write about. So, why not a cow!? hehe
I like the cow’s stomach too. Everytime i look at it I laugh. So cute.
Thanks, June! 😃💕 hehe… yeah, just a little extra cushion! lol