You dumb cow.

You were made for more than this.

Today’s nugget is brought to you by the cattle ranch my kids and I are spending spring break on up in Oklahoma. A friend of my in-laws got into it as a hobby, and 10,000 acres and 5,000 cattle later, it’s a living. A hard living, but a living nonetheless.

Yesterday, we went out with the owner and fed one of the groups of cows. Two things stood out to me. Two things that you and I would be wise to remember.

The first thing is this: at dinner last night, the owner’s son said something that caught us off guard a little. “They’re really dumb,” he said about the cows. We all laughed. He didn’t. Why? Because the fact that the animals are “dumb” makes his job more difficult. But it’s true.

That’s the first thing. I’ll come back to it.

The second thing? As we were riding in the pasture, I was struck by how these massive animals—especially the bulls that get up to 1,400 lbs—are held in by a a few thin strips of barbed wire and one chain link that keeps a gate closed.

It’s mind-boggling to me. I…