Come, Boss!

It was almost a song, a very short repeated one.

Come, Boss!

It was not an order, or a request. It was a call.

Come, Boss!

I am remembering walking on a Vermont hillside as a child with my cousin Judy. She is actually my mother's cousin, and they are the same age. I am 'helping her' go get the cows from the pasture for the evening milking. It is late afternoon, and their udders are full. They are ready to go to the barn, and at her clear, ringing call, most begin to walk toward the gate. The majority are polled. They are different colors and sizes...Holsteins, Jerseys, Brown Swiss, Ayrshires. This part of the memory is an amalgam formed over the years, because the colors of the cattle changed with the price of butterfat. If the price was high, then the general color of the herd was Jersey reddish-brown. When butterfat prices were lower, then the black and white of the Holsteins dominated.

Come, Boss!

I seem to remember that some of the cows were hanging back that day, and that was because the herd queen, a brown and white cow with horns, was in heat and in no particular hurry to go to the barn. We walk behind them...the others decide they should go to the gate, but he queen is hesitant and a little skittish acting, and my cousin is unsure if the cow will do what is desired. We step towards her, pushing her with our presence. Then...she suddenly decides to walk toward the gate to join the others. They are milling about, a fairly tight clump of large bodies. My cousin opens the gate and they go to the barn. Each knows their place and goes to it, and patiently get their collar snapped to a chain to keep them from wandering away should they finish their meal before milking is done.

Come, Boss! There are different reasons given as to why a cow would be given the nickname of 'Boss'. I think the most plausible is that the Latin genus of cattle is 'bos', and the name just trickled down through the centuries along with the milking of cattle.

Many, many memories on that Vermont dairy farm. It is still in operation today, and they will be doing evening chores and milking right now as I am typing this. My cousin's son and his wife have taken over, and they went organic several years ago. Some things have changed, some things remain the same.