Wisconsin Cows

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Originally uploaded by seawallrunner.

Perhaps you are familiar with the California Cheese Board's line of advertising. There are a series of commercials featuring Holstein cows.

In one of the commercials all the cows are out grazing in an idyllic pasture, such as this one depicted in this photo. Some of the young calves, then turn to their grandma cow, and ask her what it was like where she came from.

Opening up to your view is a vision of a cow in the midst of a blizzard. The wind is howling, and snow is blowing. (Inferring how terribly those poor cows Wisconsin have it, I believe.)

Well, yesterday we had one of those Wisconsin Cow days here. The wind was howling, up to 50 MPH gusts. There were times when it was snowing as well. The snow wasn't really falling, it was blowing sideways. I can see a bus stop outside my office window at work. There were people who didn't have proper coats out there. Some of their faces had turned bright red from the wind and the cold.

The temperature on the thermometer was about 30 degrees, but with the wind gusts, it was closer to zero.

It made me long for the warmth and sunshine of St. George again.

By the way, this photo is not one of my own. It is from Flickr. When I post my photos to the flickr web site, I also have the ability to see other people's photos as well. This particular photo is from a person who lives in Vancouver, BC Canada, where I served my mission, who goes by the nickname of "Seawallrunner". If you click on the picture of the Cows, it will show you a larger version of the cow photo. You can view more of her photos of the Vancouver area here, and if you do, you will see why I have come to appreciate her photos. She does great work. It also is a way for me to see things that remind me of my time in British Columbia. With flickr, you can see photos from people from all around the world, and you can do searches for photos of virtually anything you are interested in.

In the next week or two, I will put together a folder on flickr of family history related photos. At first, I will upload photos of headstones from family members. I will add information along with the photo giving directions to the cemetery, and then how to find the grave site once your are at the cemetery. I have thought that at some point, I would like to borrow my brother Mark's GPS locator device, and include the GPS coordinates for family grave sites as well. Eventually we could also upload digital photos (which includes scanned photos) of ancestors, as well as locations where ancestors once lived. Having all this information in one place, where everyone can access it would be very convenient for everyone. Then you could download the images to your own computer, and add them to your own personal family history information.

You can sign up for a flickr account for free, and store up to 100 digital photos at a time. (If you subscribe to their paid service, you can post virtually unlimited photos.) You can choose whether you want everyone to see or photos, or you can mark them as private. You can form groups where only those you invite can see the photos (such as a family group, etc.) If you would like to participate, it would be a fun way to share photos of family members with one another. In the near future, I will probably send out email invitations to sign up for flickr. The email will have a link to that will help you sign up. Or, you can just go to the flickr web site to sign up on your own.