Yesterday we said goodbye to a good friend. On a beautiful clear morning, with the sun just coming up and warming her back, we let Yam go in search of new pastures where she could graze pain-free and roam in search of the perfect patch of clover. Yam, our 14-year old cow, had been getting weaker and was obviously in much discomfort. It’s always hard but we knew it was time.
We liked to call Yam “Badge 1” at Plum Granny Farm. She had been an employee here long before we moved back. She served as official greeter and as our entry into agritourism. She is an icon around here – because of her, everyone knows where the farm is: “Oh yeah, I know – it’s the one with that big black cow, right?” She graces hundreds of photographs taken by tourists and locals alike. People would stop and talk to her; children would wave and come and visit the pretty cow. She was called Bessie, Elsie, and more names than we know.
She was an orphan and so was a “bottle baby” which gave her a special bond with humans. Sometimes she did seem a bit more like a dog than a cow. And she put up with a lot – like the Santa hat for Christmas one year. Her personality was wonderfully unique.
We will miss seeing her peacefully gazing into the distance, chewing her cud. That’s when she was practicing the Zen of Yam.
So now our pasture is empty and our hearts are sore – we miss our Yam but know that she is here, as a friend told us, just beyond our ability to see her and she is waiting to train the next bottle baby heifer in the ways of Plum Granny Farm.
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Plum Granny Farm is responsible for the content of this email.
Cheryl Ferguson, 1041 Flat Shoals Road, King, NC 27021
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