I learned early on in my time here that farmers are the world’s greatest animal lovers, something many people in cities and suburbs do not know or understand. Hardly anyone lives with animals as closely as farmers do, or understand them better. I became friends with Carol Gully, who runs Bejosh Farm in White Creek, N.Y., with her husband Ed of more than 40 years. They have a small dairy farm, their work is relentless and backbreaking, Maria and I went out to Bejosh today meet Ed and see the farm.
It is a demanding place, dawn-to-dusk work and chores, and all kinds of animals woven into their lives. There are huge Swiss Steers, a sweet goat named Sadie and a half dozen Australian Shepherds. Chickens too.
The steers reminded me of Elvis, my own brown Swiss Steer, it turns out he came from Bejosh Farm, something I learned when I started talking to Carol in rehab. Carol and Ed were among the first readers of my short play, “Last Day Of A Dairy Barn,” to be shown in a staged reading at Hubbard Hall sometime in late January. Elvis was put down after his legs began to fail and my own live changed radically.
We loved the farm, we loved talking to Carol and Ed, we fell in love with the goat and are seriously considering getting one, perhaps in the Spring. I took some photos there, of course, and will share them here today. We are grateful to have friends like Carol and Ed, we all clicked and talked for a couple of hours, we plan to bring some pizza to them when they stagger off of the second milking of the day in mid-evening. The rule of every farmer I know is that the animals have to be safe and happy and everything has to be working before the people eat, and Ed and Carol’s first meal of the day often comes at midnight.
Like every farmer I know, Ed’s knees are nearly shot and he can barely move his hands anymore in the cold. it is a hard life, but it revolves around animals and their care, and Carol and Ed have some of the luckiest animals anywhere. Like every farmer I have known, Ed is sorry that most people have lost touch with the real nature of animals and the true nature of farms. We had the best time.