Friday Night Oxen #52

Dear Friends,

This weeks Friday Night Oxen marks week 52 and the last of the regular weekly presentations. And with it, this phase of my seva to the Oxen has come full circle. I want to thank everyone for sharing this journey with me, for not only the kind words of encouragement and thoughtful comments, but for your unique insights and challenges, as well. I hope you have benefited in some small way from this journey too.

I do not know in what direction I will take the blog from here. I want to continue to post, though less frequently and it is my hope to seek out and share more direct experiences with Oxen. I will keep you up to date with Jigger & Jolly…tomorrow we are celebrating Earth Day a week early by travelling the back roads near Local Farm, picking up litter along the roadside left behind by the long winter.

Padayatra

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“Padayatra is a Sanskrit word and consists of two terms. ‘Pada’ means foot, and the meaning of the word ‘Yatra” is a festival.” I become captivated by this idea sometime ago last year and was very fortunate to have email contact with Gadadhar das in the Czech Republic. He tells us that Bala is the nigh ox and is grey and Nanda in the off ox and is brown. Bala is Hungarian Steppe and Nanda is Czech Limousine. Bala is now about 15 and since he is a “great veteran” of the Padayatra since about 1996, he has been retired. Nanda at 8 years now shares his service with 4 year-old Dharma. You will recognize Dharma as the nigh brown Jersey.

They are trained mainly by their Padayatra driver Paramahamsa prabhu and are living on the ISKCON farm near Prague.

To find out more, click here 

Have a nice weekend, in further service to the Oxen

ys, Chuck

Chant

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare 

Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare

 

Friday Night Oxen #51

Hello Everyone,

This is a 19th century engraving that I have been admiring for almost a year. I have not presented it yet because I have been trying to decide what I think about it. Sometimes I feel there is something very triumphant in the oxen, even in the face of the monolithic oppression of the wall as a backdrop. At other times, it is most depressing and I think it must be a product of a time of war and strife.

So, I go back and forth with my feelings on this one. But, that’s OK and I will let you draw your own conclusions.

Have a nice weekend, in service to the Oxen

ys, Chuck

Chant

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare

Friday Night Oxen #50

Hello Everyone,

This is a very nice video and a nice team. A couple of interesting things to note are the yoke, which is of a “head-yoke” style and the shoes.

The Head Yoke is an old design which is still very popular today in many areas. The wood for the yoke itself is specially carved out to precisely fit the horns of each individual team. The yoke is then lashed in place behind the horns, in this case, the lashing itself becomes part of the beautiful ornament on the front of the forehead. This design increases the ability to harness the tremendous power in the neck and shoulders of the Ox.

You can also notice the metal shoes that this team wears. These are specially-fitted and carefully nailed into place to protect the animals feet on hard surfaces and to provide traction. In this instance, you can notice that only the front hooves are shod. Not all Oxen are fitted with shoes and those that are do not need them all of the time, but you will see them occasionally.

Lastly, these boys are fitted out with very nice sets of brightly-polished metal horn knobs. These are not only very smart looking and convey a proud appearance, but provide a little safety from otherwise sharp horns when Oxen and people come into close contact.

Have a nice weekend, in service to the Oxen

ys, Chuck

Chant

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare

Friday Night Oxen #49

Hello Everyone,

…just wonderful pictures…

Have a nice weekend, in service to the Oxen

ys, Chuck

Chant

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare

Friday Night Oxen #48

Hello Everyone,

Kerry

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Kerry Cattle are an ancient breed with a lineage that can be traced back through time to the Celtic Shorthorn present in Ireland during the Roman Invasion. This makes the Kerry one of the oldest European breeds. Today, they are a rare breed and take their name from the county of Kerry in Southwest Ireland.

Kerry Cattle are black with small amounts of white allowed on the underside. With cows weighing 800 lbs. and bulls weighing 1000 lbs., they might be a good fit for small Family Cow undertakings.

Although the Kerry is a durable breed, capable of producing moderate amounts of quality milk from meager resources, The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy has placed the breed on their critical list, generally siting crossbreeding and displacement by more productive milking breeds.

Organizations such as the Rare Breeds of Canada and the Kerry Cattle Society of Ireland are dedicated “to do all such things necessary to promote and maintain the purity of the breed”.

Presently, I am not able to find any actual pictures of Kerry Oxen Teams.

Have a nice weekend, in service to the Oxen,

ys, Chuck

Chant

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare

Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare

Friday Night Oxen #47

Hello Everyone,

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Today there is much sadness in the world and I struggled to find meaningful words to understand the confusion.  Slowly, words like hope, prayer, faith and finally, mercy came through.

Have a thoughtful weekend, in service to the Oxen

ys, Chuck

Chant

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare

Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare

Friday Night Oxen #46

Hello Everyone,

plows

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In just about every post of FNO, we have seen Oxen pulling the plow.

Plowing is one of the most common tasks for oxen to perform; preparing the soil for planting. Plows have been used since ancient times and can be found in the artwork of many civilizations. Plow designs change in accordance with time, place and technology, but they, like their purpose, has remained mostly the same down through time.

In the present-day US, these rather odd-looking devises often become objects of curiosity, reminders of days-gone-by and mostly find themselves far from home and their intended purpose.  Often, you will see them end up as landscape or restaurant decor.

Yet, there are many that still employ this humble tool, gathering each Spring with their teams and implements in the time-honored tradition of preparing the soil for planting.  In many countries where a plow would be considered a possession of great value, often beyond the means of any one family to own, communities come together in shared ownership and hard work to labor for the common good.

The most interesting thing I find about plows is that they serve very little need really, unless you see them tightly knit into the fabric of their unique purpose.  What need would there for the plow if there were no Oxen to pull it, no warm earth to be turned, no seed to be planted, no sun and no rains to nurture it, no grain to be harvested and no mercy from the Lord to make it all happen with such exquisite and wonderful care?  For me, in this context, the plow makes perfect sense.

Watch is a nice video of community plowing.

Lastly for tonight, my friend Bill sent me this information on a project in Zimbabwe that his son Silas and others have launched that I would like to share.  Please take a moment to browse the website here. They have wonderful plans, among them;

“We would like to offer Ox Training where people can bring their own young bulls and learn to train them, resulting not only with a capable Ox, but job opportunities as well.”

Very inspirational, it would be wonderful if you found yourself at the “donate’ page.

Have a nice weekend, in service to the Oxen

ys, Chuck

Chant

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare

Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare