Kids in the Country

This first picture is one of the young boys that I babysit witnessing the birth of a calf.  His father brought him into their family's dairy farm and was teaching his three sons how to properly deliver a baby cow.  The boy in the photo is the youngest of the three, therefore his reaction to what was going on was most interesting.  These boys are surrounded by the natural world from the day that they are born, there is no point in telling them that 'the stork' delivers babies.

In this second picture, the three boys are aiding their father in pulling the calf--with twine (which was safely wrapped around the calf's cannon bones--above the fetlock joint)--as the mother pushed.  The boys will be growing up on a dairy farm, where the birth of animals will be a typical thing.  It is important for them to learn how to safely assist an animal in labor.

Picture number three was taken after the newborn calf was brought around to her mother to clean off.  The three boys stood watching as she gently licked the calf and consumed the amniotic sac.  I asked the boys if they had any names for the new baby and their responses included Mario (yes, like the game), Michelle (their aunt's name), and Bloody (because she is so bloody).

In this fourth picture, the eldest of the three dairy farm boys is playing with the friendliest of the barn cats.  For some reason, this cat is able to not only tolerate the smothering of three little boys, but always comes back mewing for more.

This fifth shot is one of my personal favorites.  The moment was perfect as two of the boys were chasing around the rest of the goat herd, yet the middle child and this particularly patient "Momma Goat" both stared up into my camera lens.  The resulting photo was too humorous to ignore.

This sixth photo captured a moment that was undeniably beautiful.  The youngest of the three boys wanted to go see my horse (who I keep at their farm), so of course I complied.  As we reached the fence to his paddock, he immediately came over to see us and greeted the small boy by putting his head over the top rail.  I love the relationship between such a large animal and such a small, young child.  My horse instantly becomes a gentle giant around children.

Picture number seven of the three boys in the tree was too classic not to take.  I wanted to allow the boys to have fun while I took pictures, and I've never met a young boy who didn't enjoy climbing trees.  There is also a significance to the three brothers in the same tree, as it symbolizes family and also the importance of play-time, youth, and the outdoors.  A tree is nature's jungle gym.

In the eighth picture, the eldest of the three brothers struck a very cliched country boy pose for me--hay in the mouth and a cowboy hat on the head.  What makes this picture beautiful (in my opinion) is the contrast of the deep blue sky and the golden hay that the boy climbed upon.

For the ninth picture, I wanted a photo of all three boys together near the hay.  The whole point of this documentary was to show the impact of country life on children.  I figured a good shot of this would be the boys with something iconic of farm life.

In this last picture, the boys are playing with the punching balloons that I bought them--as a thanks for being such good models for me.  Of course they had to battle it out with the balloons for a while before they would calm down enough for me to take this last picture of them and the evening sky.  Kids will be kids.




This documentary focuses on the impact of country life on children.  The significance of all of this was meant to show how important it is for children now-a-days not to get wrapped up in video games (a false world), whilst the true beauty of this world and this life is all around them.  Children should be able to play outdoors, get fresh air, and be introduced to animals and the natural world in order to grow up respectful of all forms of life and our planet.