Royal Winter Cows
The Royal Winter Fair came to Toronto a few weeks back – even Prince Charles flew into town for a quick appearance. Dana and I were the other Royalty that got to visit the fair.
I don`t think I`ve gone to the fair before – if I did it was as a small child. I grew up in Suburban Toronto and we often went to the Markham fair in the fall. I have many great memories of our community fair and often looked forward to it.
I remember that the local softball association was auctioning off a cow when I was a teenager. The cow would be fully butchered and delivered in time for Christmas. My friend Laura and I bought every ticket we could when they promised us they would call the winner before culling it – our intention was to `save`the animal and keep it somewhere.
I often wonder what we would have done if we had won. Neither of us ate red meat at the time and we lived in the same subdivision. In all likelihood Ethics would have given away to practicality and everyone would have gotten meat for Christmas. Or we would have found a farmer who could have kept it `safe.`
It`s a good memory and funny to think of how much my perspective has changed over the years.
The Royal Winter Fair was awesome – we had a great time and learned lots. We also got to hang out with some cows (most of whom made milk not meat) and grabbed a few shots. I love watching cows – especially when meandering in fields but a few posed for us so here they are.
Comments
i think cows are some of the most gorgeous creatures on earth.
someday i hope to have one and milk her. although if that happens i fear i will end up with a herd sooner or later because knowing me, i would not be able to give the calves away.
I TOTALLY remember the cow raffle at the Markham Fair. I used to pet the raffle cow, and wonder if I bought a ticket and won, if I could keep it as a pet. I never bought a ticket, couldn’t bear to win the cow in parts.
Speaking of cows, you would love Cambridge (UK) in the summer–cows EVERYWHERE!!!! I was in cow heaven. One of my work colleagues thought he would be kind and walk me most of the way home along a more scenic route than I usually took. It was full of cows and I insisted on trying to get close enough to pet them. Yes, I am just the sort of random insanity that would parade through a cow field in a skirt and smart shoes to pet a cow or drag someone down to the stream (in office clothes) to see fish. Many of the walking paths I followed were through cow fields, which I think is so charming. There are even cows grazing in front of Kings College. I think I might have even posted a picture of the Kings cows on my blog.