A New Beginning Photos by Bob Kelly

While driving around a rural area near Ames, I noticed a cow in a pasture with others, that was off in one corner by herself, while the others were many hundreds of feet away.  I stopped and looked, only to see a black mass on the ground next to the standing cow.  Being a farm boy I realized she had just given birth to a new calf minutes before I noticed her, as part of the placenta was visible on the cow, and some of the umbilical cord of the calf was evident as well.  I knew the cow would soon try to get the new calf up on its feet to move around, and to soon find some warm milk.  I sat there for a half hour taking nearly 200 images as the newborn got its “legs” and bearings, and was guided for a milk run by its mother.  With lots of nudges, and body turns she kept directing the calf back to the milk supply, and finally he found it and was soon having his first warm meal!

It was a deeply touching experience for me, and one I had seen many times, but when is the birth of a new life, not a miracle??  Several pickup trucks and cars zoomed by on the gravel road, making clouds of dust, and being unaware of the beautiful and private show, Mother Nature was giving to me.  By the time I am writing this in the mid afternoon, some others will have seen the new calf moving about and they too will know, however I was the ONLY one that was there, and through my lens I was with the mother as she taught her calf where to find milk, and he did so.  I cheered when he found home plate….almost as loud as I did at the end of the ISU game Saturday night.  Spring is a time of new beginnings for lots of fauna and flora of our beautiful world, and I was honored to personally witness this calf as he rose up and took his first steps.  I am humbled, and happy to share these moments with you as well.