close en-cow-nter

hey stranger <3

on sunday, i said goodbye to edinburgh and took the train back down to england. i love taking the train — it’s calming to listen to music and write in my notebook watching the green hills and trees roll by. while looking out the window, i heard carol ades’s new single “late start” for the first time, and it really hit. it feels like summer and hugs and a big exhale. i recommend cranking it from a moving car or at the top of a big hill.

the train brought me to lincoln, a town i’d never heard of before. i’m here to take care of louise’s pig and chickens and geese and garden (i made this connection through “trusted housesitters,” which has been really helpful for saving money on accommodation during my trip).

now it’s wednesday, and so far i’ve mostly been lounging outside and relishing having all this s p a c e to myself. it’s a big change after sharing a room with thirteen strangers in edinburgh! where drunken voices chanted late into the night, and bagpipes rang out early in the morning. here, i’m surrounded by fields and plants and animals. it’s just what the doctor ordered.

speaking of animals, on to my cow story!

so, yesterday i wanted to take a little walk. i used the special stick louise’s husband showed me to squish the electric fence down low enough to step over into the adjoining field. in the distance, there was a group of twenty or so cows, grazing and minding their own business. cool.

i walked in the shade, avoiding cow poop and the tallest patches of grass. after about fifteen minutes of this, i decided that was enough rugged adventuring for now and turned back around.

as i made my way back toward the house, i noticed the cows coming closer. they were moving very slowly, and it’s a huge field, so i thought our paths probably wouldn’t cross. i looked at the nearby trees, wondering if i’d be able to climb one quickly enough if the cows tried to run me over. what a silly thought. in this gigantic field, there’s no way they’re going to concern themselves with little old me. right?

wrong. the cows got closer and closer, and i realized i wouldn’t be able to reach a climbable tree without running for it, and i didn’t want to encourage any stampede-like behavior. should i have been this scared of cows? i haven’t heard any of dangerous cow attacks lately, but you simply never know!

slowly but surely, i was surrounded by cows on all sides. they were staring me down, probably expecting me to give them some food. i tried to breathe normally, knowing that these animals were much more powerful than me and could maybe smell fear.

then one cow stepped forward from the rest, and started licking me all over — my legs, my shorts, my fanny pack. it felt so friendly, and i laughed from relief. did you know a cow’s tongue is very rough? not the most pleasant, but definitely more pleasant than getting bit or trampled, so i was fine with it.

luckily i had my phone and got a quick video, but substack is only letting me share images so here are some choice stills:

now that some friendly contact had been made, i felt like i had permission to keep walking, and i led the cows back to the area of the field where they’d started.

so there you have it! my close en-cow-nter! in the end i’m so glad they stopped and said hello :)

thanks for reading. talk soon 😘