Nopales!

harvesting nopales in the pampas -video

Empathy/Empatía

Grass farming

Joy & thanks / Felicidad & agradecimiento

Verano 2011 / Summer 2011

Shsss

Views

picture from Temple Grandin´s movie trailer

The origin of the rainbows

- Hi there Negrita! Come here with me under the barn, I told the cow when I saw her getting all wet
- Don´t you like the rain 99?
- I sure do! It´s good for the crops and it feels even better when followed by a rainbow
- Thanks
- Why do you thank me Negrita? I was complimenting the good heavens not you
- She gave me a look and said, So... you don´t know about the Celestial Cows attributes and responsibilities?
- What???
- I guess your Mom didn´t tell you. Oh! sorry 99, I remember now, your Mom is not a cow...
- Of course she´s not!
- Well, my Mom was and she told me what her Mom told her she knew from her own Mom
- And that is...?
- Rainbows are part of the Celestial Cows responsibilities.
- Tell me more Negrita

- See, we Terrestrial Cows moo and give milk to feed the bodies. Celestial Cows sing and paint to feed the spirits. We are very organized. I am a TC and will become a CC in some years
- You mean when you pass away?
- Yep. I´m still choosing my color and tune. When I was young I wanted to be a red and sing thunders but as time passed I´m more inclined to green and laughter. Anyway, there´s no rush to pick...
- You mean you can pick?
- Yep, it´s called free will and it works there as it works here. Maybe you can help me choose, 99
- Actually I like green and I think it would suit you but I´ve never heard laughter coming down from the skies. I don´t think I can be of any help to you Negrita, I still don´t get much of that heavens stuff. So what else did your Mom tell you about the rainbows?
- She told me that every CC in the Celestial Herd has to weave rainbows by milking out her color after each rain


- How come that there are not always rainbows after all rains?
- It´s simple, 99. There are not that enough CCs to cover the whole skies in the world plus most of CCs were TCs from tropical areas of the planet and they get very confused when it snows
- Gotcha now, I laughed at the cow, I guess you´re not that organized after all, ah Negrita?
- You´re wrong again. We are very organized. We reincarnate until we learn... Hey 99! I like the sound of your laughter! it goes well with green! ... can I borrow it?
- ...

Urbanity

International Day of Climate Action

Tomorrow October 24, join people all over the world to take a stand for a safe climate future.
Read the Invitation»
And search for actions near you»

Blog Action Day 2009: Ostriches on the terrace/avestruces en la terraza

I love to watch ostriches on the skyscrapers of Buenos Aires. Some years ago during springtime a female ostrich layed a couple of eggs on a notebook that a writer forgot on a building terrace and a male ostrich decided to nest them right there.

Nobody knows exactly how the birds reached the eleven floor´s terrace of that first building.
My husband says that the bats must have lifted them all the way up. He´s usually right when it comes to immigrants and cooperation.
My mother thinks that they passed by the neighborhood following some gypsies and stayed because they were tired of all the walking.
My brother feels that they came because they wanted to teach their kids to see the world from the urban perspective.
I think it has to be the changes in the Pampa´s lands that brought them here. They´re constantly pushed out of the fertile grasslands that once seemed endless and now they live on most of our buildings.

I love to watch the ones on the terrace across the street from my window...

When the weather is nice some tenants wash their clothes on the terraces. Sometimes one of them forgets a bar of soap and the ostriches come and eat it so that they can talk in bubbles language.

Sometimes the ostriches dance frantically tapping on the roofing tiles jumping and opening their wings. The neighbors don´t like that because think that they´re having tantrums but it´s just their way to call the butterflies.
Ostriches know that butterflies always bring stories and fruits from other lands.

I have to say that these birds are very respectful audiences. When the butterflies come they sit in circles and listen (or eat) without interrupting or making noises.
Some tales are so delicious and some fruits are so funny that the ostriches laugh in bubbles, clap with their toes and take the butterflies for rides on their backs through the roof gardens.

But sometimes the stories and the fruits are scary. Then the ostriches teach their charitos the correct way to hide their heads inside a bucket or a flowerpot.
I saw them many times telling their offspring in bubbles language that it works, that they learned this ancient technique of avoiding problems from us.
The charitos always look at their parents suspiciously. The rule never makes any sense to them but they generally obey like good kids.

Yesterday it was unusually hot for Spring and I saw something different.
A rebel charito was asking the butterflies if it was true that all humans worldwide hide like that to solve the mess they bring to the weather.
The butterflies must have been angry or something because they turned in spirals up and down moving the air so strongly that the explanation uncombed the charito and... judging by the expression on his face the answer must have been very very complicated.

The insects bubbling was too small to read from the distance and they seem to know a lot.
Next time I´ll use my dad´s binoculars.
I bet that the little rebel is going to demand more answers...




Me encanta observar a los avestruces en las azoteas de Buenos Aires.
Una primavera hace algunos años una avestruz puso un par de huevos sobre un anotador que un escritor dejó olvidado en una terraza y un macho decidió anidarlos ahí mismo.
Nadie sabe exactamente cómo pudieron subir los pájaros esos once pisos hasta la terraza de aquel primer edificio.
Mi marido dice que seguramente debieron ser los muciélagos que los ayudaron a subir. Generalmente él sabe bien de lo que habla en cuanto a inmigrantes y a cooperación.
Mi madre piensa que pasaban por el barrio siguiendo a unos gitanos y que se quedaron porque estaban cansados de tanto andar.
Mi hermano siente que vinieron porque querían enseñarle a sus hijos a ver el mundo desde una perspectiva urbana.
Yo creo que los trajeron los cambios en la Pampa. Están siempre corridos fuera de los fértiles campos naturales que alguna vez parecían interminables y ahora viven en la mayoría de nuestros edificios.

Me encanta observar a los que viven en la terraza de enfrente de mi ventana...
Cuando el tiempo está lindo algunos inquilinos lavan su ropa en la terraza. A veces algunos se olvidan algún jabón y los avestruces vienen y se lo comen para poder hablar en idioma de burbujas.
A veces los avestruces bailan frenéticamente pateando las tejas saltando y batiendo sus alas.
A los vecinos no les gusta porque piensan que los avestruces tienen rabietas pero es solamente porque están llamando a las mariposas.
Los avestruces saben que las mariposas siempre traen historias y frutas de otras partes.
Debo decir que estas aves forman audiencias muy respetuosas. Cuando las mariposas vienen se sientan en círculos a escuchar (o a comer) sin interrumpir ni hacer ruidos molestos.
Algunos cuentos son tan deliciosos y algunas frutas son tan graciosas que los aveztruces se ríen en burbujas, aplauden con sus patas y llevan a las mariposas a dar paseos por los jardines de las terrazas.
Pero a veces las historias y las frutas dan miedo. Entonces los avestruces les enseñan a sus charitos la manera correcta de esconder la cabeza en un balde o una maceta.
Los he visto muchas veces diciéndoles a sus crias en lenguaje de burbujas que eso funciona, que han aprendido de nosotros esa antigua técnica de cómo evitar problemas.
Pero los charitos siempre los miran con cierta sospecha. La regla nunca tiene mucho sentido para ellos pero generalmente la obedecen porque son buenos chicos.

Ayer estuvo increíblemente caluroso para ser primavera y observé algo diferente.
Un charito medio rebelde estaba preguntándole a las mariposas si era cierto que todos los humanos del mundo se escondían así para resolver los líos que ellos mismos hacían con el clima.
Las mariposas debieron estar enojadas o algo así porque se retorcían en espirales subiendo y bajando, moviendo el aire con tanta fuerza para explicarle, que despeinaron al charito y... por la cara que puso, la respuesta debe haber sido muy pero muy complicada.

Las burbujas de los insectos eran demasiado chiquitas para leerlas de lejos y parece que saben un montón.
La próxima vez voy a usar los binoculares de mi viejo.
Apuesto a que el rebeldito va a exigir más respuestas...

The woman who thinks like a cow

Margot and the posts

- Are you concerned Negrita?
- Hi 99, a little... remember my friend Margarita?
- I have the feeling I´ve met her once. Isn´t she 2008 milk cow National prize winner?
- Right. Margarita was able to give 28 liters of milk per day when milked with tango music.

- What a cow!
- Yeah... and all the bulls in the ranch were dying for her. When she was present the rest of us were invisible to our males...
- I didn´t know cows could be jealous.
- Oh no! Of course we can be jealous but none of us were jealous of Margarita. We were proud of her and everybody wanted to be her friend and give milk with her charm.
- Why do you speak in past tense?
- Way too much applause and posts finally got into her soul. After so much of those posts watching she became obsessed with both applause and posts.
- So?
- After a while the posts around the tambo became boring for her. She was also aware that Argentina´s dairy industry is sinking and she decided that since a champion like her was so badly paid here she should take off to conquer other pastures.

- What did she do?
- She traveled the world and tried everything that had to do with posts. Everything that had to do with applause. Everything that had to do with tango music.

- So she must be happy, I told the cow that was still looking concerned
- I´m not so sure... I have just received a postcard form her. She´s in Paris. She´s working with children and she´s listening to tango music 24 hours a day but she says that she´ll come back because she doesn´t like the weather. I don´t believe it.
- Why not?
- For one, milk cows don´t like children because children don´t like milk.

- I liked milk when I was a kid.

- That was chocolate milk, 99, sighed the cow, also I noticed in the photo that she looks dry and sad. She bleached some spots of her hair and she´s not attracting bulls any more.
- Maybe the music still makes her happy and she really doesn´t like the weather...
- I don´t think so. Tango 24 hours a day? Come on, gimme a break! said Negrita a little pissed. Be serious 99, who cares about the weather in Paris? They don´t have palm trees like in Buenos Aires but it´s still a great place to live in. We´re talking Paris!
- And you´re concern about her coming back because tambos are closing and she might end in a slaughter house?

- No!

- Sorry, I don´t get it Negrita
- Look at this, said the cow unrolling the postcard and showing it to me, You know nothing about tango, do you 99?

- Not much...

- She changed her name to Margot for Christ sake!, she added, “Ya no sos mi Margarita, ahora te dicen Margot” Does it ring any bells? It´s about her soul. You´ve learned nothing today, and she left really pissed at me.

I don´t understand cows at all and I still don´t have a clue of what she was saying. I´ll ask her again next time when she´s in a better mood.

Or maybe I better check some tango lyrics before doing so.

Hug a swine

Eternauta

Gobernar es cuidar
Pagina/12 REP al pie/bottom

Cow Urine Soda

Ley de bosques YA!

con la complicidad del Gobierno de Salta,

Hell on Earth

-Hi there 99. I have just received news from my friends from the former neighbor´s tambo.
-Hi Negrita. I´m a little busy right now, but tell me are there good news?
-Good and bad, said the cow.
-Go ahead, shoot.
-Well it seems that my Holando-Argentina best friend got so popular that she´s on stamps!
-Wow... and why´s was that?
-Because of her spots
-...?
-Her spots turned out to be the world map. I think that´s why she was always looking at the airplanes.

-So, she´s being photographed?
-Nah... she´s not the model type. She goes to schools to teach geography to the children.

-And the bad news?
-The other cows were sent to Hell on Earth: the feedlot.
-God bless their souls Negrita...
-I´ll pray for them tonight 99...


please don´t miss this link: http://www.ethicurean.com/2008/02/17/hallmark-recall/

Blue

-Did you meet my boyfriend 99?
-Is it bull#382?
-Yeah, but I call him Darling
-I can understand that, he´s a such a romantic... always near the flowers

-Moo-ooo!, sighed Negrita

-Are you pregnant now?
-Yep, I think it´s going to be a girl calf and she´s going to be born in August. I´m going to call her Blue after a friend of mine that has been sick for awhile and is recovering pretty well. She´s going to come and visit me soon...

-I´m glad for all of you. By the way, I saw you reading a magazine. Any news?

-I guess you saw me with the last Science
-It´s a very prestigious journal
-I read about the latest studies on climate change and greenhouse emissions. They were saying that the destruction of natural ecosystems— whether rain forests or grasslands not only releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere when they are burned and plowed, but also deprives the planet of natural sponges to absorb carbon emissions

-We´ve already discussed that, remember? Cropland absorbs far less carbon. So what´s new?
-Actually the author of the study, Timothy Searchinger from Princeton University, called "accounting error" that misuse of land. I would laugh out loud if I had all my teeth!

-Hey! what´s wrong with your teeth? Haven´t you seen the dentist?
-Oh God, no! I hate the dentist!
-Negrita, nobody likes the dentist. But it is necessary to go for a checkup every once in a while

-So you say, 99. Have you ever experienced a cow teeth checkup???



-Negrita it is not that different for humans. Each time I´m on the dentist chair I feel the same. I try to think on other things, whatever, cows, airplanes, anything
-Now that you mention it, did you know that on February 18, 1930 Elm Farm Ollie became the first cow to fly in an airplane and also the first cow to be milked in an airplane?
-...?
-... Sorry 99, I´m just trying to forget the dentist...

What if.../ Y si...