No, these are not my cows.
Jon and I were trying to find a place to park the car at a school where my sisters were performing in their shown choir. And we couldn't find a parking place anywhere. We even drove up and down the streets in the surrounding neighborhoods, and there was not one spot for us to park. It was 6:59 by now, literally one minute before the show was scheduled to begin, and I was beginning to feel frantic. Would we ever find a parking spot within a mile of the place? Would we miss half the show that my sisters had been practicing for 8 months? We ended up going behind the school building and parking behind the football field. We ran across the school grounds and made it into the auditorium five minutes after 7:00. Fortunately, the show started a little late, so we didn't miss any of it.
After the performance, Jon and I walked back through the twilight to his car. The school, by the way, was built right on the edge of the urban growth boundary. So in front of the school was a grid of horrid little town homes, packed together like sardines with no room out front for desperate visitors to park a five-seater car. Behind the school, however, was a lovely little farm. Seven or eight cows and calves were munching on the long grass in their field. Two of the cows were licking their calves clean with their hard, rough tongues. It was such a peaceful sight, and a such a nice surprise to find a little farm behind the school! As Jon drove me home, I said, "You know, if we had found a parking space out front, we wouldn't have found the cows."
Moral of the story: Sometimes what seems like a bad thing is really a blessing in disguise. Or, to put it another way: When things don't go the way you plan, look for cows.
