Well, we are back at my mom’s house in the Bay Area. The Christmas madness is going to begin. There will be 16 or more people living here for the next few days, and more coming in and out.

And what, you might be asking, does this have to do with a cow perched majestically atop a huge pile of manure?

My mother-in-law joined us on our adventure this year. Because the house is so full, she brought her motor home. We did a caravan from San Diego, past Los Angeles, and down the long Central Valley of California. When I say we, I mean me, my mother-in-law, and my younger daughter, Mollie, who cruised with my mother-in-law in the motor home. My wife flew, because she had to work… And she still almost beat us to the Bay Area. My normal 7 or 8-hour drive was extended because of the slow speed of the motor home. We left before the sun came up, and got to my mom’s as the sun set.

So… about the cows. I have showed you so many photos of the valley over the years. But this time, I saw something from a new angle. My mother-in-law heard a rattling, and pulled off the freeway to see what was rolling around. She stopped on the side of the road near the off ramp. Now, we drive by this cow-holding area every time we do the drive. You can smell it for miles. But I never got this close to it before. I walked across the road to take some of these pictures.

As we got back on the freeway, I took that picture. It shows the extent of the operation. This is a concentration camp for cows… and I don’t say that lightly. I have been to Dachau twice. This is wholesale slaughter of another species. Now, don’t get me wrong. I eat meat. I love meat.

But, when I eat a cow, I like to imagine that they lived like these cows… the little black dots way over there.

I like to think that they have room to roam around. You know, romp and play… like cows do…

In fact, when I am chomping on a steak or a burger, I think of the cows in a meadow, where the grass is greener than this.

And don’t get me started on sheep.

Anyway… after a very long day, we made it to the Bay Area. San Francisco loomed in the distance, calling me to more adventures.

And there you have it.

We came around the corner, onto the the street where I grew up, and that leads us back to the picture I started the post with, taken in front of my mom’s house…