Passing on the Love

I love animals. You can ask anyone I know to vouch for me. Naturally, living out of the country puts a bit of a damper on that love, but I do what I can with what I have. Right now, we are limited to cats and rabbits. But despite only having the few animals we have (though five cats isn't exactly a small number) I have somehow managed to pass on my love of animals to the kids. Alex and Abby simply adore animals. In fact, one of their favorite things to do is visit my folk's house and play with their many animals. Granted, most of the big animals are mine and I am merely biding my time until I have land of my own to move them to. But nevertheless, the kids are always in their element when they go visit Grandma and Grandpa's house. However much Alex is in love with animals is nothing compared to the obsession that Abby has found for them. I see myself in her already at such a young age. She is absolutely fearless around them. And the bigger the animal, the more fearless this little two-year old is. It's fascinating to watch. She walks up to them and hollers for them as if she had been doing it for years. Naturally, I have to watch here close so she doesn't get trampled, but still. It thrills my heart to see the kids enjoy animals as I did. I hope that the love only grows bigger and that one day they will pass this love on to their children. For now, I will explain the amazing photo I took of Abby. The cow is Daisy, my 21 year old jersey cow. And yes. You read that right. 21 years and counting. (That's why she looks kind of skinny. The winter was hard on her old bones.) And don't worry about how close Abby is to Daisy. Daisy is as gentle a soul as you could possibly find in the animal world.