All cowed up

I've heard this stat dozens of time, so I'll assume it's true: New Zealand has more sheep than people. With that in mind, I'll venture to say that the Golan Heights - with a small yet growing population of around 40,000 (split 50-50 amongst Jews and Druze) - has more cows than people.

Take my small moshav for example: there are under 100 families and the cooperative's cowshed plays home to over 800 cows. If that's the norm, and I do believe so, then I'm on track to prove my theory correct. Plus, I'll even say this with the understanding that my moshav's cowshed is one of the most profitable ones in Israel based on the amount of milk produced per cow. And no, as a resident I don't get any profits.

So driving towards Qatzrin last week, it came to me as no surprise when I saw a big brown and white bovine nonchalantly crossing highway 87. It even had a look in it's eyes saying, "Don't honk at me. Wait!" But this past weekend, when we were down in Modiin for Shabbat, I did not expect to hear that my youngest son (almost 2) was peering around each corner and yelling for his four-legged friends, "COWS! COWS!"

I guess that comes from living up in the country where the cows live without a care in the world.