My granddaughter, Mary, is a kindergartener at the same Catholic School that her mother attended and her grandfather, and even great grandmother attended. Kindergarten is different for the grandkids... they go for a full day of school now! So my little Mary is gone, and I felt a sense of sadness... I had always had her very much in my daily life, as I was her babysitter when her mom went back to work half time at the hospital from when she was 12 weeks until her baby brother, David, came along 2 years later.
We have shared many adventures on the farm over the last 5 years, and in many ways she is a lot like me! We love to paint together and a lot of her style in clothing and accessories comes from me. We also share some favorite books that we have read hundreds of times! So when, out of the blue, I was offered an evening with Mary... it was a beautiful gift!
Such a beautiful evening, and the dogs are eating some bites of apple... just off the tree... after they each had some green beans off the plants in the garden! Yes, we do feed them dog food, but they have realized that good fresh food that we grow and pick and eat are yummy and juicy and sweet! Mary has always loved her animals, and so we made a decision to go about 10 miles away to see her special heifer, Snowball!
First her and grandpa had to share some icecream for the road!
After we got under and over the electric fence... we followed the creek down the cow path - a regular trail that the cows make from walking back and forth following the one ahead of them. The young heifers - they will have their first calf this winter or spring -were finally spotted way back by some trees.
The early evening lighting was very beautiful and Mary headed straight for them... looking for the white face of her special Snowball... hence the name given her by Mary two years before when she was brought to their farm to "break" and get ready for some other 4Hers to show at the county and State Fair. Ever since then Snowball has been her special friend!
Carried away with the sunlight paintbrush!
Mary had brought along a small pail of "cow" apples... those that have fallen off the tree, as nothing goes to waste on the farm! 
With an apple outstretched in her hand... slowly Mary walks towards Snowball.
Soon Snowball and her friends, including Banana, are crunching on the 8 sweet and juicy apples that Mary has brought for them!
Life is good and this is a great adventure out on a glorious evening hanging out with friends and sharing? a meal... Mary and Grandma brought grapes and water to have for our snack/picnic out in the willow tree.
Snowball is happy to see Mary and remembers how Mary likes to pat her head and rub her neck... they are friends and remember each other ever time, even if it has been many weeks apart... Snowball eating grass in the pasture all summer and Mary with her family and now a Catholic schoolgirl! They can still share time together...
Best Friends!
We go over to have our snack and enjoy the evening in the willow trees... Snowball follows Mary over there too! Too cute for words, and so awe inspiring to have this kind of give and take with a creature of God!
Mary and I found a natural seat on the low branches of the willow... Mary looks up to see Snowball coming to see her through the branches that the cows use to itch themselves on... There is a peace and calm about how a girl and a heifer reach out to each other, and gently touch and are touched. The smile of Mary's face shows her love and enjoyment of this special time together. She has no idea that this is anything but normal everday stuff... really for her to have a cow friend is quite out of the ordinary!
For Mary and grandma this was a sacred moment in which we are so close to God through nature and His creation. We don't speak of it, but are very touched and moved and respectful of this time of sharing! Thank you, Jesus!
Pat asked me how many pictures that I took... 150? He guessed high - I took more like 115, but how can you stop taking them with a scene like this before your eyes and camera lens! A beautiful sweet little farmgirl with her special applefilled friend out on a beautiful golden glowing fall evening!
Sweet Jesus, I am overjoyed at the gift of this time with my precious Mary and her friend! She took grandma along on a most wonderful glorious adventure. I am filled with wonder and awe at the gift that LIFE is in all forms and shapes. We are so blessed to have our lives on the farm to share with family and friends... may be never take it for granted. Thank you for this special life that we have been gifted with. Times are not always easy, but we take the task that you have given us to care for the land and to feed the world very seriously. Give us the strength and wisdom to love and follow you, even when it is hard. Be with the farmers as harvest is drawing near, and as Simon said at his birthday - "I prayed for safety on the farm!" Jesus, we trust in you! Amen and Halleluia
"For God, the living God, I thirst.
Like dew upon the fleece come down,
Like rain upon the desert sand,
Like light into a darkened room.
As parched earth breaks for need of rain
So my heart breaks but not in vain.
When wilt thou on my vision burst?
For thee, my living God, I thirst."
The hymn from morning prayer... see http://www.magnificat.com/
Jesus speaks of the nature to us today in the Gospel... Luke 9: 57-62 "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." "No man sets his hand to the plow and looks at what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God." 
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