Grass Is Greener

Dad and I used to comment about this phenomenon when we were working out in the pasture together.

We'd see the cows all bunched up at the fence. They'd stick their heads through the barb wire. You knew that had to stick them so it had to be uncomfortable as anything. They'd be trying to graze the grass on the other side of the fence. And the grass on their side of the fence was exactly the same or better as the grass on the other side. And they could have gotten to the grass on their side a whole lot easier.

Dad and I would stand there sometimes and watch them. He'd tell me "People are like that, too."

And I'd ask him to explain it.

He'd say that you had to learn to be content with what you had and some people never did learn it. He thought they were just like the cows trying to graze the grass on the other side of the fence while ignoring what they had on their side.

I think on one occasion he told me about one of the Ten Commandments in the Bible that said not to do this.

Ever notice that the coveting commandment is the last one? Wonder if that has significance? Strange in a way that you'd even find it in the list really. But there it is along with murder, lying, theft, and marital unfaithfulness.

Sometimes when we'd drive down to Marlow we'd see cows trying to graze grass on the road side of their fences. We'd always talk about the grass is greener phenomenon.

I don't remember ever getting tired of hearing Dad talk about it We explored the subject in considerable depth.

I remember once asking Dad if he thought the cattle knew there was the same grass on their side. He said it was all about perspective really and that somehow the cows were too close to the fence to realize what they were doing.

Dad and I knew about cows and one thing we knew for certain was that they were plenty smart. A lot of people think animals aren't smart but that's people who don't know animals. There are some smarter animals and more not-so-smart ones but they have smarts.

I miss Dad and him talking to me about cows and green grass.

Father's day is coming up soon. We always went to Marlow for Father's Day and had a family reunion down there. I'll have to blog about that.