Walkabout: Mombray

The area around Mombray (Condé sur Noireau) is absolutely beautiful. During the walks, runs and drives through the landscape, I can truly begin to understand why people fall in love with this area of the world. This time of year is especially gorgeous as the leaves are turning colors, the air is crisp, and when the sun shines, everything comes alive.

During one of my walks, I decided to cross over a fence and wander along a small river running right through some farmland. I didn’t see any cows and figured they must be in a different field today. The sun was warm and the breeze soft. I decided it was the perfect day to sit and meditate at the waters edge…eyes closed, just listening to the babbling of the water along the pebble shore. I found a log to sit on and dragged it to the spot where I had chosen to sit. I situated myself comfortably, and closed my eyes.

Just as my mind was starting to settle down, I heard some large splashes in the water nearby! As I opened my eyes and turned to look behind me, I saw, to my astonishment, a very large white cow standing in the middle of the river. Behind this cow, there were more cows. Now I could clearly see that this spot, exactly where I had chosen to meditate, was in fact a crossing point for the cows. Only this brave cow dared to make the crossing while carefully keeping an eye on the meditator-with-red-jacket. The other cows hung back, not sure what to do. The brave cow continued on, and to my relief, simply walked straight by me. I am not sure who was more scared, me or the cow. They say, that to a cow, a person looks very large. I can tell you that, to a person meditating, a cow looks larger!

Meditation is a funny thing. So are cows.