Truth be told I don’t know if these fine creatures are destined for our dining rooms or if their days will be spent parading up and down the street for the tourists and locals who come to watch, but I can say I enjoyed the experience.
It was a small glimpse of a different world than the one I know and walk in and I appreciated the small insight into it. It made me think about how we view the world and why normal for us might seem exotic to another.
And of course it was another moment where I wondered what sort of stories the men and women who run the cattle drive might have to share. I have a million different questions:
- How did they get involved with cattle?
- Did they grow up on a ranch and learn?
- Was it the family business?
- If you didn’t know a thing about cattle but wanted to get involved how would you do it?
- Does it pay well?
- What is a typical day like?
- What do they like about it?
- What do they hate about it?
I can only imagine what their answers would be and how they might generate other questions.
It All Comes Back To Story Telling
You’ll have to forgive me for talking shop while I share some of the moments that have come with my move but I see a connection here as it relates to story telling. Or more to the point, if someone asked me about how to market the cattle drive I would definitely want to create some profiles of the people involved in it.
These profiles might already exist but we’ll pretend they don’t so that we can run with this.
What we want to do is find a way to build connections between people here. We want to connect those who are working the cattle drive with those who don’t. We want that group to include people who would never go see the cattle drive as well as those who are happy to go.
And one of the primary ways to do it is by providing profiles of the people involved and some anecdotes about their experiences.
Stories build connections and provide a foundation to build relationships between people, even people who have little to nothing in common because stories are where we find common roots.
How Did You Get To Be Who You Are
The story of how you got to be who you are is something that many people can relate to, even if they are in a field that is diametrically opposed to yours. Heck, if you are like a lot of people you probably have a dream or two that you never got to follow.
The reason why you didn’t almost doesn’t matter, what matters is getting the chance to tell that story and share it with others.
Those are connections that are just waiting to happen, all that you need is an opportunity to share those tales about who you were, who you are and who you wished you could become.
Now About Those Cattle
Anyway if we circle back to the cattle you just watched in the video I will gladly confess that watching them march down the street made me wonder what it must have been like a 150 years ago in the Old West.
And then this wonderful scent of tasty barbecue came wafting through the air and I stared at those suckers and thought- “there goes dinner.”
Sometimes it is good to be a carnivore.
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Tim Bonner February 4, 2013 at 8:25 am
Hey Josh
I couldn’t see the video either but I’d say they were definitely destined for dinner!
Many things in my life have been unexpected, some in a good way and some in a bad way. But you’re right, they make up my story and I’m sharing a few more recent snippets whenever I can.
Connections mean a lot to me, whether online or offline, as most of the time I’m just at home with my daughter.
My wife’s a vegetarian so I don’t think she’d like the smell of the barbecue. Then again, she might!
Josh February 5, 2013 at 7:30 pm
Hi Tim,
Sorry about the video, but fortunately you didn’t miss that much. The meat of the post is in the text. 😉
When you are a stay at home parent I think connections become even more important.
Mary Stephenson February 3, 2013 at 1:56 pm
Hi Josh
Well for me, I will eat a hamburger, but I would just as soon not see them alive and face to face. There are animals and then there is meat. I know they are not separate but somewhere along the line of growing up I got a little compassionate. My dad had chickens and rabbits, which became part of many meals…but I don’t think I would want to eat rabbits anymore…too much like cats!
Stories are always interesting, but how many of us never fulfilled our plans of years ago and that is sad. Love to go back and correct all that, but alas I can’t. Somethings you can go back and redo, but then there are others that it is not evenly remotely possible.
Couldn’t see the video.
Mary
Josh February 5, 2013 at 6:27 pm
Hi Mary,
I can appreciate that. It is not always easy to look your meal in the eyes. I have done it with fish, but don’t think I have ever had it happen with a cow or anything similar. That might be awkward.
Chickens wouldn’t bother me, but rabbits might.
Sometimes you can’t go back and redo or relive things but there are those moments that allow for it so I figure if you have the chance, why not go for it. I’ll have to check the video, wonder why it didn’t work.
Angela Ryan February 3, 2013 at 12:06 pm
That was an awful lot of thoughtfullness over a potential hamburger. Interesting post.
Josh February 5, 2013 at 6:30 pm
That is high quality hamburger.
Julie Barrett February 3, 2013 at 4:09 am
Running of the bulls yesterday, hey? They are most definitely dinner, especially in the land of chicken fried steak. Just THINKING of all that great food that I can’t get around here is making me miss it.
Always love a story about how someone got to where they are, even if the story starts out,”I was born on a ranch in ye here, just off this here dirt road down yonder…” It’s like Bill Bradley’s “American Voices” on NPR.
Josh February 5, 2013 at 6:29 pm
Hi Julie,
Not quite the running of the bulls, but still a lot of fun. There is a boatload of good steak floating around here and lots of barbecue.
American Voices is fun, quite interesting.