There are so many things that I can’t explain or even understand. How the leaves know when to change colors and fall or how the lettuce seeds know to bolt and form little puff balls for the seeds to disperse. I continue to be amazed by nature and count myself lucky to have developed such a strong relationship with it.
Sometimes the rabbits are too bothersome, just as the thistle is too abundant, but in the end it’s simply breathtaking. Recently, my father-in-law asked me what the most interesting thing I have learned was. Sitting there in the shade, I quickly replied.
I’m not sure how to articulate it, I don’t know if it’s spiritual or an emotional connection. But somehow, I feel a connection with the animals. I heard that the eyes are a pathway to the soul. Starring deep into a lover’s eyes is the stuff romance novels are filled with. But, what about your sheep or cows? Even now, my curious turkeys spend a great deal looking at me when I’m around. My cow, Baby, sprinted across the pasture when she saw me. Approaching me at full speed like I had never seen her do before, I wasn’t quite sure what to do. Fortunately, I didn’t have to decide. Before I could make up my mind, she had come to a complete halt, just in time to breathe warm air from her nostrils into my face. Then, she stared deep into my eyes, until she decided it was time to exfoliate the dead and living skin cells from my face, arms, neck and legs with her loving but uncomfortably rough tongue.
If you’ve never been licked to death by an adult cow, it’s hard to imagine. Picture a cat’s tongue with all its ridges designed to collect water when they drink. Those small grooves make a rough surface, kinda like sandpaper. But a cow’s tongue is about 10,000 times as rough. So rough that she has drawn blood on more than one occasion. But sitting there in the pasture, scratching her all over, while she quickly tastes my entire epithelial layer, I find a sense of peace. It’s something that I can’t explain.
I have a bond with them. They trust me and that bond is solidified with love and reinforced with sweet feed for treats. I began wondering if the generations before us had a similar bond with their animals. Perhaps, someone bonded with their horse that they traveled with. Not like a car, or an inanimate object, but a living creature that interacts on an inexplicable emotional level.
I don’t know if it’s true. But, my father-in-law went on to explain to me that he was aware of research involving injured plants that responded differently to people based on the individual caring for it. There are many studies regarding the plant and human connection, and some are truly amazing. I think it’s why some gardeners play music to their plants. We decided on the name Happy Roots, because we believe that the foundation of our job here is to nurture and care for the foundation of life, the roots. Whether the roots are underground or emotional attachments, they reach deep into our soul.
