I hopped on my bike this morning and cheerily pedaled my way into the crisp, clear, just washed-by-rain morning. I actually met Steve coming back the other way on the bike path so we high-fived each other (in transit) while I yelled, “Hey! You wanna get married?”
I’m pretty sure he said yes.
So that’s a relief! Nothing like having a marriage proposal turned down first thing in the morning. It sort of puts a pallid pall over the rest of the day.
After high-fiving and proposing to various men (well, actually, just Steve), I hopped off the bike and went and said hello to this fella. (Or he may not be a fella; it’s sort of hard to tell by the ears. But for the purpose of this blog, he is going to be a fella.)
The aforementioned fella and his girlfriend courteously rendered a horse-esque greeting in my direction before going back to their breakfast which appeared to be some sort of an offering by Kelloggs. Grass ‘n’ Bran Flakes, maybe?
After munching for a moment, they returned to the fence to check on me.
“What? You’re still here?”
Since I had nothing to offer them in the way of breakfast food–no biscuits, no bagels, no cream cheese–they lost interest once again and went back to ye olde Flakes.
However, I found someone on the grounds who was not losing interest.
It was this cow.
At least I think it was a girl. The only thing I had to go on was my vast, encyclopedic knowledge of agricultural lore and the fact she was wearing a little ribbony thing around her head. (Oh, for cute!)
At any rate, no matter how long I wandered around, snapping pictures, looking at horses, gazing at flora and also fauna, each time I glanced over at Lady Cow she was just standing. And staring. And doubtlessly pondering perplexing and ponderous ponderings.
Finally, in order to reward her for her patience, I wandered on over in her direction and said, “Are you ready for your close up?”
She was.
She even stretched out her neck so that I could see how long and slender it was, because all of us ladies know how fab it is to have longness and slenderness adorning our own personal necks.
However, she also eventually lost interest in me (what? am I so boring?) and she and her long and slender neck went wandering off in search of grassy sustenance.
So I returned to my horse friends. And the sun.
After I had been standing near them a while, I guess they got comfortable enough around me to do a little um, spooning, with each other. I felt so very honored that they would do their little horsey kissy thing there right in front of me.
I think what probably happened is that they’d heard I was a world-renowned wedding photographer who had just recently taken pictures of an especially famous and charming spooning couple. (Also known as my son and daughter-in-law.)
They conferred briefly with each other and came to a momentous decision which loosely translated had the boy horse saying, “Dad gummit! We are not going to let Nathan and Meagan outdo us in the Romantic Kissy Photo Department. Let’s get kissin’, woman!”
And then? Well, then they backed away a step or two and looked just slightly abashed. I’m sure they were thinking, “I sure hope that woman doesn’t post that kissin’ photo of us on her blog! How embarrassing would that be?”
I bade their bashful selves farewell and snapped one last lovely photo before getting on my bike. . .
. . . and heading home to post kissin’ photos on my blog
I do not think the cow was a girl. I think that it was a mister.
That’s funny because my mother-in-law wrote and said she and Steve’s dad thought it was a mister, too. But hey, for the sake of the story (and his/her little hair bow) we’ll call him/her a Missus!
Such relaxing pictures. Always rely on you to publish something interesting.
Ann, I guess kissin’ horses could certainly be called “interesting!”
I really love your posts and your pictures Becky – thank you 🙂
Hi Barbara, thanks for dropping by and signing in; your encouraging words made me smile!
That cow looks really skinny. Cute post though!
We don’t have any cows in our town in Alaska, but I thought that cow looked very skinny, also. Hope she’s okay.
I enjoyed your post, Becky!
I didn’t even notice the cow looking skinny till you all mentioned it; I had to go back and look at my own pictures again! She seemed like a contented and happy cow and not at all miserable so hopefully she’s feeling okay and not sick, or anything.
Hi Becky:
You are so lucky to live in such a beautiful peaceful place, I live in a big city (Toronto), where it is all hustle and bustle and the only time I get to see this kind of beauty is when I go to the crountryside, which, unfortunately is not often enough. Enjoy your day and thanks for makeing mine a little more peaceful.
Nancy,
Rarely does a day go by when I don’t breathe a prayer of thanks for the beauty around me; I’ve lived in cities before and while there is a certain fun energy and excitement that goes with a city, given a choice, I’d still take a small town setting. I’m glad that the blog post gave you a little bit of a peaceful respite today; that made me happy to know that.
Love your new blog! It’s beautiful.
Thanks so much, Beverly. It’s been a fun week putting it all together but I’ve got a bad case of “brain drain” from doing it. I’m looking forward to learning more and making some cool changes as the days go by! Glad you’re here!
fun photos.. one those fella horse shots looks like a zebra-in-training.
I love cows, but my favorite farm animal is a PIG. do you have any Manteo pigs?
My favorite Zoo animal is a hippo. I’m pretty sure Manteo does not have any hippos.
sooo… am I supposed to check those three boxes every time I leave a comment?
Mrs. P: Try not checking those three boxes and you will find them yelling at you…well, if not yelling, at least admonishing you. I especially like the spammer box. Like, if I were a spammer do they think I would admit it???
Actually, I think the only box that requires our attention is the spamming one. The other two seem to be up to our individual wants and need.s Enjoy your day and be blessed!
Now Sue, you know I would never yell at such lovely ladies as you and Mrs. Pam. Unless of course you both turn into seriel spammers in which case I might have to put on my “stern voice.” 🙂
And Sue, you’re right; the only box that has to be checked is the Spam box to deter any mindless robotic machines that spreads Spam about.
Mrs. Pam, so far I have not seen any Manteo hippos but we do have some pigs in the area. Not that I have ever met any personally but I’m quite sure they do exist in these parts! The farm I was at this morning also had sheep but they were too far away to photograph. (Or maybe they were pigs in a sheepskin disguise. You never know!
Hiya Becky 🙂
This was one of the most cutest posts you ever have written and I simply love all the pictures – especially the horse kissing and the cute cow- now you made me feel like I never want to eat cow meat agian. Thanks for taking such sweet pictures and sharing them with the Smithellanous family.
P.s You are so good at grammar, so maybe you could take a moment to explain when to use ‘on’ and ‘at’? I find the prepostions so hard and I thought someone who has English as their mother tonque would be able to explain in a way that makes sense.
Hugs from a very very rainy Denmark
Hi Trine, good to hear from you all the way from Denmark!
As for our question about “on” and “at,” I’m not sure if I know what you’re asking. Could you give me an example?
Becky, for German speaking folks (and if I interpret Trine right for Danish speaking folks, too) it’s always a bit difficult to figure out what preposition to use. Just confuses us sometimes. E.g. in German you’d say “Ich bin in einem Restaurant./ I am in a restaurant”, as you are physically inside the building, while in English you actually say “Ich bin an einem Restaurant.*/ I am at a restaurant”. At/ an is usually used to describe things that are hanging somewhere or are attached to something. “Das Bild hängt an der Wand./ The picture is hanging at (I know, that it should be “on” in English) the wall.” Again, a look into the dictionary would not have helped, as “on” is translated to “auf”, like “Das Buch ist auf dem Tisch./ The book is on the table.”
*(except, that noone would say “an einem Restaurant” in this context, in German “Ich bin an einem Restaurant” would imply, that the speaker is standing in front of it or sitting in his/ her car in front of it, probably waiting for something or someone or trying to give a location.)
So, that’s what is confusing in English. I think Trine is hoping, that there is a rule of thumb when to use which.
And the funniest of all:
“I am waiting for (= German “für”, which wouldn’t make sense at all) you” – “Ich warte auf dich”, if a German would literally translate “Ich warte auf dich” it would end up as “I am waiting on (=auf) you”, which, in German, means “Ich bediene dich”.
best wishes Nadine from Germany
PS: Love your new blog design! Congrats on it! And you look absolutely fabulous on the banner image!
Nadine, you are indeed right. A rule of thumb when to use which could be very nice. Prepostions are what I find hardest and always have. Nadine, it was very insterstering to read your examples by the way in German. Espcially because our langauges German and Danish are somewhat similiar to each other.
Just curious because I did not really get the last example, well I got the point so in German if you had to say ‘I am waiting for’
‘Ich warte für dich’?
In Danish it would be Jeg venter på dig – which in Engllsh translated littery would be ‘I am waiting on you’ ^^
Nadine and Trine,
You ladies who are bilingual just really amaze (and impress) me!
Having said that, I have to add that my one-languaged brain is still not quite understanding the preposition question that is being asked. (If any of you English pro’s out there want to weigh in on this, please do!)
The only thing I would have to add is that even if there is an official rule of thumb on this topic (which I’m sure there is), it still seems to vary depending on what part of the United States one is in–or even, what part of North Carolina! For instance, in the town where we used to live, it was not uncommon to hear people say they were going to sit “in the floor” rather than sit “on the floor” which is what I would consider to be proper.
So it may be an issue whose usage varies from place to place. Sorry I can’t be more helpful but I have certainly enjoyed the conversation. (And I also got read some phrases in German and Danish in the process–how fun!)
@Trine:
Um, no “I am waiting for you” is “Ich warte auf dich” (Which literally translates to “I am waiting on you”, e.g. serving the dishes in a restaurant) in German. “Ich warte für dich” would not make much sense, the only sense I’d get out of that if someone was waiting for a parcel and had no time accepting it and someone would sit it out at his/her house and wait until the mailman comes.
“Ich warte auf (= lit “on”) dich”/ “I am waiting for you” would mean, that someone is sitting somewhere awaiting the arrival of someone else, who is late and told (on the phone or so), that the one already there will wait.
Ah, I always loved these “false friends” in English lessons.
Another would be:
“Waiter, may I become a steak?” (instead of “Waiter, may I get a steak?”)
And the waiter replies: “I hope you never become one!”
That’s because the English “become” sounds like the German “bekommen” (= engl. “get”). So, many students use “become” instead of “get”.
@Becky:
Thanks for your amazement, however English is a mandatory subject at schools in Germany, so every student has at least basic knowledge. (Home schooling is prohibited here.)
best wishes Nadine
Nadine, I truly wish it were mandatory for schools in America to require a second language; that is a skill that pays off for the rest of your life. Glad to have you and Trine and other international people as part of the Smithellaneous Family!
Hi Trine! I do not know if I can answer your question, but I would like to try. To me, the word “on” would me you are actually able to be on top of something. For example you could sit “on” a chair, you can be “on” a boat, “on a swing” or “on” a bike. If you are “at” something, it just means you are physically there, but maybe standing next to it. Or you are inside it. So you could be “at” a restaurant, “at” a concert, “at” a meeting. Does that help? If you can’t picture yourself (or your object, like the book in your example” actually physically sitting on top of something, then use “at.” There are probably exceptions to this idea, but I think it would work most of the time. 🙂
Rachel, what a great explanation!! Thank you so much for weighing in with your very clear and logical answer.
Rachel, what a great explanation!! Thank you so much for weighing in with your very clear and logical answer.