breath into steaks
In the cool autumn sunshine filled air, a big tow truck look a like vehicle pulled into Tauroa. I was feeding some feijoas to a horse in quarentine (sp?) when I heard the first shot fired. I turned around and watched the man from the truck with his rifle pointed at the other alive steer as he made some mooing sounds and took aim. The second shot was fired and the steer feel as if the grassy ground had been pulled out from underneath his hooves. This was the 6th animal I had seen killed in 2 days.
As Fritha (one of the farm residents) and I gingerly stepped around the paddock analysing the dead steers we began talking about the difference between seeing different animals hunted. We came to the conclusion that seeing birds and smaller animals hunted in the wild isn't quite as disturbing as the previously stated experience, because of a few reasons:
1) They have more of a chance when they are not in a fenced in area
2) I took an art class at the Unversity of Hawaii where we had to learn about Native North American hunting masks. Our professor told us how the hunters would wear these masks to invoke the spirits of the animal being killed, and shortly thereafter consumed, and all the rituals, prayers, and appreciation that went into hunting that animal. My eyes were opened and since then have had beaucoups of respect for the way Ian McNair goes after his ducks and other birds.
3) Cows are just massively big and powerful animals.
This whole experience was quite disturbing and would turn most Suburban South Carolinians into vegetarians, but on the flip side I found it highly fascinating and enlightening. Fritha, currently a nursing student, showed me all the different aspects to the heart and how the blood flows (or pours) from different parts of the body. In a weird way I felt very Da Vinci seeing all of this and exploring all of the parts from an antonomical stance. It made me want to take my mother's anotomy class back in Greenville, SC. On the whole I think that this was just another perk to being on this wonderful farm. Since I do eat beef and I've read Fast Food Nation I think it is only right that I know how this process works.
We only have a few more days here in NZ (5 to be exact). I'm looking forward to coming back, but I will truely miss it here. Maybe I'll come back and study Stiener school for a year while Ian carves duck devoys. First, I've got my Trek America committment for the next 5 months, then other choices can be made. But most immediately, I have to finish my first knitted sweater.
As Fritha (one of the farm residents) and I gingerly stepped around the paddock analysing the dead steers we began talking about the difference between seeing different animals hunted. We came to the conclusion that seeing birds and smaller animals hunted in the wild isn't quite as disturbing as the previously stated experience, because of a few reasons:
1) They have more of a chance when they are not in a fenced in area
2) I took an art class at the Unversity of Hawaii where we had to learn about Native North American hunting masks. Our professor told us how the hunters would wear these masks to invoke the spirits of the animal being killed, and shortly thereafter consumed, and all the rituals, prayers, and appreciation that went into hunting that animal. My eyes were opened and since then have had beaucoups of respect for the way Ian McNair goes after his ducks and other birds.
3) Cows are just massively big and powerful animals.
This whole experience was quite disturbing and would turn most Suburban South Carolinians into vegetarians, but on the flip side I found it highly fascinating and enlightening. Fritha, currently a nursing student, showed me all the different aspects to the heart and how the blood flows (or pours) from different parts of the body. In a weird way I felt very Da Vinci seeing all of this and exploring all of the parts from an antonomical stance. It made me want to take my mother's anotomy class back in Greenville, SC. On the whole I think that this was just another perk to being on this wonderful farm. Since I do eat beef and I've read Fast Food Nation I think it is only right that I know how this process works.
We only have a few more days here in NZ (5 to be exact). I'm looking forward to coming back, but I will truely miss it here. Maybe I'll come back and study Stiener school for a year while Ian carves duck devoys. First, I've got my Trek America committment for the next 5 months, then other choices can be made. But most immediately, I have to finish my first knitted sweater.