Kay Johnson
For the novices, that is the ‘non-cow buying crowd’ this might seem a bit weird. Well, to be truthful and not brag too much, at first I found it odd too. However, once you get into it, it is kind of fun. I am talking about, buying and branding a cow. Yes, I recently had the wonderful opportunity to buy and brand, not just one, but 8 cows and 2 bulls! This was for part of the development project we support for orphan kids. We are giving these animals to families who accept children as adoptive or foster parents.
Ladies, you might really like this. It is a lot like buying shoes. That is how I first approached it. I did not really know how to choose the cows. I had a hard time telling which was male or female. Don’t laugh at me now! Way before I took and passed high school biology, I met the Lord and became a born again, baptized, Bible believing, good Baptist girl who learned discretion and discernment in Sunday School. So, like I said, it is like buying shoes. I first looked for the ones with a nice speckled pattern and decided from there, which cows would match one another. After that, it was easy. Before I knew it, I was negotiating the price for the 10 heads of beef and even got 6 goats. Well you know how it is, once you go for a pair of shoes, you may as well get some accessories! Everyone in the marketplace thought it rather odd that a woman would be negotiating, but then again, what do they know about American women and shopping?
Having successfully purchased the livestock, my next task was a bit more of a challenge. I had to brand the Nuu cows and goats. No, I did not misspell it. The purchase of the animals is in a small village called Nuu. Nuu is about the size of…, well, suffice it to say you could only fit maybe two hundred head of cattle in the entire village. It is a small village. In fact it looks like an dusty cow town from the early American west in a lot of ways. A woman in this setting is unusual and that is one reason I stood out. The other reason is that I was holding a hot branding iron and searing the hides of the animals held down by two strong men. The smoke from the singed hair and hide kind of caught me by surprise, but by the third or fourth animal, I had gotten used to it. It is not unlike barbecuing, except you really want this meat to remain very rare.
So, that is how I got to brand Nuu cows and goats. I highly recommend it to those of you who are looking for new, or Nuu experiences. Yes, I admit, I was once a novice, but I can confidently say, I now know the difference between buying shoes, and the difference between boy cows and girl cows and how to brand them.
Nice to meet you on the blogosphere!
Look forward to reading your views on the web.
Mungu awabariki sana, na mjue sisi Wakenya tunawapenda no kushukuru Mungu kwa kazi ambayo mnafanya.
Alfred and Rebecca Gitu
Posted by: agitu | March 28, 2005 at 02:45 AM