The miracle of life

In the time that we've been friends and subsequently more than that, the Maestro has exposed me to many an experience I might not have had in life otherwise. He's predominately responsible for my love affair with Baltimore City, and he also introduced me to the Maryland State Fair a few years back.

I'm not particularly one for produce or livestock on a regular basis. I have, however, come to appreciate the fact that the fair comes around once a year and it's an excuse to eat fried dough and say goodbye-byes to summer. We went to the fair last Friday after work, and since it was raining like crazy, we grabbed dinner at The Still first with the family.

When the rain died down, we finally headed across the street to the fairground to see as much as we could in the time left. We checked out the produce and home arts. That was all fine and good. But then we grabbed some ice cream and headed to the Cow Palace, which is where the magic happens. They have this thing called the "Birthing Center" where they induce pregnant farm animals so that curious onlookers such as myself can observe a new life coming into the world.

This exact scenario played out as we entered the Birthing Center on Friday night. The men watched for a little bit, but then got distracted by piglets in a nearby pen. We all started losing our patience (cows can be in labor for a long time apparently), so we decided to browse the rest of the livestock while we were waiting for this heiffer to pop.

The Maestro found greatest interest with the pigs. He got super excited when he saw one particular pair of pigs sleeping in the same pen. He called them a 21st century couple.



By the time we got back to mama cow, two hooves were protruding from her backside. 30 minutes later, and there was a baby calf lying on ground of the pen with many a happy onlooker. I think they wound up calling the cute little bull calf "Travis."



I'm surprised PETA wasn't outside picketing the farmers for shipping this poor cow into the fair, inducing her labor, and then putting the birth on public display, but it was definitely a really unique experience. I don't think it's convinced me away from buying a cute little biracial baby off the black market and into pregnancy and childbirth on my own accord, but it was a unique experience nonetheless.