THERE'S A TIME . . .

The Fable of the Brown Cow

Out in the green pastures, cows grazed on the grass. Some lay down as they chewed, others stood on all four hooves. One brown cow named Hownow, was a bit smaller than the rest. She liked to walk around and try out different patches to graze on, and was a very sociable bovine.

The neighbor named Doggie, a little yellow cat, always enjoyed visiting Hownow, the brown cow. “Hey Hownow! How’s it going?” asked Doggie, one wonderful brilliant summer day.

Chewing her cud, Hownow looked over to see Doggie sitting on a fence. “Well, hello Doggie! All is well in the pasture, my friend. How about for you?” Hownow was happy to see Doggie, yet continued chewing her cud. “Might I offer you some great green grass?”

“Silly cow, cats don’t eat grass, well, unless it’s catnip of course!” replied Doggie. They both laughed.

“Moo!” exclaimed another cow in the field. Apparently she thought this was funny as well.

Doggie said to Hownow, the brown cow, “You know your humans are very pleased with the milk and cheese she gets thanks to the help from all of you. I like it as well. It’s wonderful to have you around not just for what you provide, but also for your friendship.”

“Ah, shucks,” replied Hownow, looking to the side shyly. “That is right kind of you to say Doggie. I appreciate your friendship too.”

Continuing to chew her cud, Hownow said thoughtfully, “You know, the humans treat us really nice here. They talk kindly to us, feed us generously and have a veterinarian routinely check our health - although that can be scary sometimes, needles and things.” Hownow’s eyes widened as she said that last part. Doggie’s eyes widened too but she nodded in agreement.

“Yes,” replied Doggie, “We have a very good life here. For that I am grateful.”

“Moo too!” said Hownow. “Moo! Moo! Moo!” said a chorus of other cows, apparently listening in on the conversation and shouting out their approval. Everyone laughed!

Hownow and Doggie chatted away for an hour or so, as the warm sun beams brightened their day as much as their friendship did.

Feeling like a fine feline, Doggie decided to go on about his usual trails, so he said goodbye to Hownow. Hownow stood in the pasture, still chewing her cud, and mooed goodbye. Such is the farm life of Hownow and her peers, simply being mellow and content.

Moral of the story: You don’t have to have a cow. You can live in harmony by being kind and content. Just hanging out and chewing the cud with a friend is a simple pleasure. Theresa M

The Fable of Raggy the Raccoon

“Screeee! Screeee!! Ahhhh!” My goodness! There were strange night sounds as two raccoons were pulling at each end of a trash bag. Tears and splits popped here and there; trash flew everywhere.

“It’s mine!” yelled one raccoon with an extra long tail.

“No! Mine! Mine! I found it first!” cried the other raccoon, whose tail was a bit bushier and his fur a bunch disheveled.

Back and forth they tugged till the contents of the bag were strewn between them. Hurriedly they picked through the items, cans, bags, old tomatoes and half a taco. They each ate fast and when lights flashed on at the nearby house, they grabbed as much as they could and scurried off.

A gray tom cat sat on top of one of the garbage cans and laughed at them. “Silly raccoons.” But he jumped when he heard a human voice yell, “Scat cat!!” Oh well, no surprise he was getting the blame.

Later the raccoon with the bushy tail and the disheveled fur came upon the tomcat who was prowling for mice.

“Hey there Big Cat! Got any grub to share?” asked the disheveled raccoon.

“Not for you Raggy. Go get your own. I know you can. I saw you with that other raccoon at the trash bags. And I got yelled at for it by the human.”

“Well, well. Don’t those humans know everything is not always what it appears to be? Sorry mate, we know it wasn’t you,” replied Raggy.

“Yeah, well. I still don’t have anything for you. But I know where you can find some yummy crunchy food,” informed the Big Cat.

Eyes widening, mouth watering, Raggy asked, “Where? Where?”

“Right over there,” Big Cat pointed to a neighbor’s house, fenced in. “It’s right there on the back porch in a big round bowl. Better get there fast before someone else finds it first.”

“Thank you Big Cat. I surely will,” Raggy replied and ran as fast as he could to the neighboring house.

Raggy climbed the fence easily, using his stealthy hands to hold on to the chain-link. “This is so easy. Why didn’t I look here before?” he snickered to himself.

He sauntered over to the big bowl, full of wonderful crunchy morsels, and just as he reached his hands into the bowl, holding the delectable delight before him, a bright light flashed on.

“What? I made no noise,” whispered Raggy. Barking from indoors could be heard. “Bark! Drop that food! Bark! Get out of here! Bark! Bark!” ordered the growling voice.

Then a human came along, looked out the kitchen window, and said, “Ah, it’s a raccoon! Let me get my camera. Come on Bravo.”

Bravo, the barking dog, looked at his human, then looked at the raccoon, torn between what he should do. “But bark! Bark!” he yelled.

Raggy the raccoon, who initially was frozen in fear with that delectable delight of crunchies held in his hand, slowly began to munch on one morsel at a time.

“Ah, silly little raccoon,” said the human. “He looks like he’s eating popcorn watching a movie! Ha-ha-ha!” Human took a picture from the window. Bravo, whimpering a bit now, seeing that his human was not angry or in fear, felt a bit confused, and offered a mere “Yip!” in response.

Meanwhile, Raggy was filled with his fancy of crunchy morsels and wandered off into the night. He stopped to stretch out his paws and yawn.

“Ah,” said the human. “I think he’s saying goodbye to us, Bravo!” The human waved at Raggy.

Bravo, forever trying to figure out his human, simply sat down, dropped his head to his paws, and mumbled, “Hmmph! Humans. Raccoons. Such silly creatures.”

Moral of the story: Well, Raggy said it earlier: “Everything is not always what it appears to be.” 😊 Theresa M

Sooner or Later...Okay Later

Soon I will be writing the last of the fables and post them here. I hope you enjoy them. For now I'll take a break. But I want to leave you with a thought or two as well as some lovely sights to see.

Blessings.

🙏💝😎