I am writing this letter to share with you 77 years of
experience living on a farm. This life, I wouldn’t trade for
anything. I have the opportunity to share, admire and observe life
with all kinds of animals. I got the most out of cows.
BY AMADEU LIMA
I am writing this letter to share with you 77 years of experience living on a farm. This life, I wouldn’t trade for anything. I have the opportunity to share, admire and observe life with all kinds of animals. I got the most out of cows.
Living and growing up with them, drinking their milk, and working the fields with them, I find cows to be the most benefit to humanity. Most people in the world grew up drinking cows’ milk and eating the meat, the butter, the cheese, etc. I have also shared my life with the sheep and the goat.
I believe that without all these products life wouldn’t be so easy. I feel the world owes these animals a lot. Now the horse, another intelligent animal that has been with the men for thousands of years, served and fought in wars, pulled wagons, plows, packs, rodeos, races, entertaining bull fights, etc. This animal that I also shared part of my life with deserves our appreciation for its contributions. I also shared life with the jackass.
In America, I say we could get by without them. But, in poor countries where people can’t afford the horse, it is very welcome to carry you from place to place. They are good packers, slow but sure. It’s not the one to be trusted – he is not afraid to compliment you with a kick or bite. Also, the mule they are from the same family. The dog is one of the best friends. They are good company, great pets, they do good work with other animals like cows and sheep and they participate in shows. The pig is very unique, intelligent, a great pet and it also gives us great food such as bacon, meat and lard that in poor countries is very beneficial.
Back home we used to raise one or two pigs in a corral. As a kid I would get in the corral and scratch him till he lay down and showed me how much he appreciated being scratched places he couldn’t reach. I used to make him my best friend. One day, family and neighbors got together and harassed him out of the corral to slaughter, forced him on top of a table, and in cold blood stuck a long knife in his neck to save all the blood for morcellas. Poor guy screamed till his last drop of blood. As a kid, this was a very emotional day for me. I hid and cried till I had no more tears as they were killing my friend. For the neighbors, it was a feast with lots of food and drinks. I feel the world owes the pig many thanks. Linguica, and not to forget the bones for soup. With pigs in those poor countries, there is no waste.
Now the monkey is one animal that I really admire for its intelligence. As far as I know, we had only one on this island in the town for recreation six miles from where I grew up. I walked with friends barefoot two or three times a year, six miles each way, to go play with it. He was trained to do tricks and if you didn’t reimburse him, there would be no more tricks. We used to take a banana and apple and throw a piece at a time. We would say goodbye to him then walk back six miles discussing the poor monkey’s performance.
Amadeu Lima is a San Benito County resident.
