What new word did you learn today?

It's a pretty simple statement, Rath. I have lived in cowboy country all my life. At a roundup or branding, one can't tell the Jewish cowboys from the Christian cowboys from the followers of the Great Cow Goddess. They all get cowkicked and bucked off at some point.

That urban Europeans with no farming or ranching backgrounds became cowboys is no more unusual than rural Europeans with no familial history of law enforcement or military backgrounds becoming cops and marines. A third of the people in my college ag program were city boys from southern California who'd never been anywhere near a tractor or a horse, including a guy who hailed from the Fairfax District in LA. I was the only woman in the program and got pretty tired of hearing some version of, Wow, a girl! Practicing Judaism (which I no longer do) was far less remarkable.

Fair enough. I've only ever seen a cow once, and that's from a distance, so to me, what cowboys do seems mysterious and remarkable. (I'm sure it stops being so after a few days, but still).
 
You're kidding me- right?
I mean, how many kangaroos have you seen?

Australian wagyu does grade out very highly. There was a time when it was a go-to over Snake River. And probably will be again soon. The American cattle industry is in very deep doo-doo. Record kills and sell-offs and a lot of the ranchers have liquidated their positions. If you think beef is expensive now, wait another year.
 
I mean, how many kangaroos have you seen?
A bunch, though none in the wild. Thanks to my once-upon-a-time-animal tech daughter, I even got to spend an afternoon playing with joeys in a compound somewhere in Alabama, of all places. Those little suckers got some serious back legs.

Australia has tens of millions of cattle. In fact, I recently read it is the second largest exporter in the world. It's not like I'm surprised Rath has never seen a wolverine or pronghorn.

We rarely eat beef, but I sure wouldn't mind having some for sale right now. We sold our cattle two or three seasons ago after losing our grazing lease. The grass in this part of the country is going to be thin on the ground this summer so it's just as well we're not currently in the business. Feeding the equines is going to be enough challenge.
 
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You're kidding me - right?

Nope. I'm urban born and raised, so I never get a chance to see farms. (Of course I've seen cows in books and films, and know what they look and sound like ... but in real life, I only saw a living cow once).

On the other hand, I've seen loads of horses, and got to ride one once. But I was sore afterwards, so I prefer walking. Horse-riding is fine, but it needs practice.
 
Our best beef gets exported. The best Aussie steaks I ever ate was overseas. Feels ironic, but I guess the money is in export over domestic sales.
 
Our best beef gets exported. The best Aussie steaks I ever ate was overseas. Feels ironic, but I guess the money is in export over domestic sales.
A lot of those ranches were built specifically to sate export demand. I think the heart or ribeye I used to order was around $35# wholesale, which I would sell at $80 for a 10oz cut... and barely break even all in. There aren't many places that can swing that.
 
Nope. I'm urban born and raised, so I never get a chance to see farms. (Of course I've seen cows in books and films, and know what they look and sound like ... but in real life, I only saw a living cow once).

On the other hand, I've seen loads of horses, and got to ride one once. But I was sore afterwards, so I prefer walking. Horse-riding is fine, but it needs practice.
Wow. Thanks for blowing my tiny mind this morning. I've never lived any place so urban that there weren't cows somewhere nearby. I knew intellectually such conditions exist, but grokking that state of affairs is something different all together. Fort Worth, Texas has got over a million people within a metroplex of eight and a half million people, but one can still go to rodeos downtown at the stockyard exchange.
 
My understanding of "dead language" is a language that is no longer used in everyday speech. Employing bits and pieces of it in science, jurisprudence, or medicine doesn't equal revival of Latin. Compare Latin usage with what happened to Hebrew in the 19th and 20th centuries.
 
I told you I didn't want to hear about it....

Please dispense with all things not related to writing, Rath. You need to find another outlet for all that.
 
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