The hills look like frosted cakes, awash with delicious icing and dotted with gumdrops. And even though more and more of the trees are becoming bare, the band continues to play and the party goes on. In the far background the cows still enjoy the meadows and feast on the seeds, a delicacy which fattens them up and gets them ready for the cold.
 |
| The party is winding down. |
The factory farms cheat nature by feeding a great deal of
grain to the animals to make them very fat all at once, much fatter than they
would normally become. Nature’s way is
to provide the seeds slowly at first as they ripen in the fall so that the cows
can deal with the adjustment in digestion.
Too many seeds at once can cause serious gastric distress. A gradual increase makes it much easier on
the cows. Then they fatten naturally in
the fall and use the extra weight to help them get through the winter.
Everything is the way it should be. The party cake will disappear soon, and the
decorations will come down. It will be as
bittersweet as it was when you were a child and a birthday party was over. Everything was so festive! The anticipation of games and food and
presents was so exciting. Then it was
all done and the music stopped playing and the colorful streamers were all
removed. The balloons were given out or
deflated. The garlands were folded up
and put away again. The few party hats
and horns that were left were already broken.
Then the house was put back to normal and vacuumed and made quiet once
again.
