Ryan Dennis

I held the phone in one hand on the table and with the other propped up my forehead. Even though the receiver was an arm’s-length away from me, I could hear Paul breathing – or imagined I could – as he waited for my answer. Finally, I brought the phone back to my ear again.

I can’t remember exactly how he had gotten here, which may be a testament to how long he was a common sight on the bank near the barn. Since both my mother and aunt taught life sciences at local schools I can only assume that his origin is from a classroom egg incubation experiment.

Unknown to most of the world, Israeli dairy farmers have developed one of the most advanced dairy industries in existence. This small country with a turbulent political history, scarce resources and one of the worst climates in which to milk cows has pioneered impressive innovations in the field.

The Steuben County Fair marked both the end of summer and a chance for farm kids in our area to hang out together under the guise of showing cattle.

A radio sits in the crux of two pipelines at the top of the parlor. It’s mostly tipped to its side and tentatively secured by a piece of baling twine. Dust clogs the speakers and the quality of the reception changes every time a cow walks past it on her way to the freestalls.

The Aran Islands lay off the west coast of Ireland as three small shadows in the haze of Galway Bay. Inis Oírr (pronounced “inish ear”) is not much more than a square mile.Like the other two islands, it is one of the few remaining gaeltachts where Irish (mistakenly called Gaelic by Americans) is still the primary language.