日別アーカイブ: 2012年11月10日

Yasmin – The Free Cow


I enjoyed my stay on Taiyo Bokujo so much I returned three times.
I, like every other Wwoofer, it seems, was impressed with Katsusan’s generous and kind nature. This is reflected in his care for his animals, as in his Free Cow philosophy.
When a cow gets fatigued from not being able to compete enough with the others for food etc. Katsusan deems it ‘free’ and allows it wander the farm and eat and rest whenever it likes, until its health is restored.

The Free Cow
Another sign of his generosity is his tolerance for Effel, the ‘F’ Cow (she has the letter F on her forehead). Perpetually in a bad mood, Katsusan allows her to be part of the gang where other farmers would have given up in despair years before.

‘Effel’
In between one of my stays on Katsusan’s Farm I Wwoofed on farm where I taught English to the host’s young children and every morning we sang the same song:
A is for Apple, a, a, apple.
B is for Ball, b,b ball.
C is for Cat, c, c, cat and
D is for etc.
This is my version for Taiyo Bokujo:
A is for Abu, Ah! Ah! Abu!(1)
B is for Bread, home-made bread.
C is for Chickens, clu, cluck, chickens and
D is for Dog, Cinnamon the dog.
E is for Effel, Ef, Ef, Effel,
F is for Free, f, free cow.
G is for Grazing, all day grazing, and
H is for Hay, h, h, hay.
I is for Ice-cream, I, I, ice-cream,
J is for Jam, Mmmmm, Milk Jam.
K is for Katsusan, K, K, Katsusan and
L is for Love, l, l, love.(2)
M is for Moo-Cows, Milky, Moo-Cows,
N is for Numb, n, n, numb.(3)
O is for Oishii, Oi, Oi, Oishii (4)
and P is for Phone, ph, ph, phone.(5)
Q is for Quiet, q, q, quiet(6)
R is for Rose, r, Rose Jam.
S is for Sunflowers, s, s, sunflowers,
and T is for Taiyo, t, Bokujo.
U is Udder, udderly fab’lous farm,
V is for Veg, home-grown veg.
W is for Wwoofers, many many Wwoofers
and X is for Ex, farm Ex-perience.
Y is for Yasmin, y, y, Yasmin,
and Z is for Zilch, z, z, Zilch. (7)
(1) Nasty stinging flies in Summer.
(2) All Wwoofers love him.
(3) Monbetsu in Winter.
(4) Katsusan’s cooking.
(5) 7 a.m. wake-up calls.
(6) Kamishokotsu at night time.
(7) % Katsusan has of keeping her away!