18 January 2013

everything the light touches

"Everything you see exists together in a delicate balance. As king, you need to understand that balance and respect all the creatures from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope." -Mufasa
"But, dad, don't we eat the antelope?" -Simba
"When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass and so, we are all connected in the great circle of life" -Mufasa, The Lion King

The Lion King is hands-down my favorite Disney movie, so it's none too surprising that it was top-of-mind in the midst of a little "Circle of Life" moment yesterday afternoon. 

After writing about and contemplating the death of a Peace Corps Ethiopia staff member, I emerged from my home for the first time in the day to a crowd of people from the compound gathered around the cow pen. I eventually moseyed over to find that the compound's dairy cow, whom I call Tractor (a nickname bestowed upon the beast by the PCV who lived on my compound from 2009-2011), had just given birth. I knew Tractor was preggers, and that she was pretty much ready to pop at any time, but it was pretty nice to have a first-hand brush with the miracle of life so soon after the heartbreak of death. I suppose if you switch out "antelope" for "cow" in Mufasa's statement of wisdom to young Simba, it fits the situation perfectly. 


Proud mama (human) and the new baby

The new baby, chillin' on some grains

Proud mama (cow)

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