The Cows Came Home

One of the many small things we love about living in Switzerland is how, with the exception of large city centers, land use is integrated with a lot of attention dedicated to preserving natural green space. Even the yards are often what I call the 'cultivated wild' look with lots of tall grasses and wild flowers.

Right behind our apartment building is a cow pasture which slopes down to a wooded stream. Cows aren't there all year round - the local farmer rotates them from pasture to pasture and, presumably, off to the butcher when they've reached sufficient size. We were delighted to discover 6 new neighbors had been rotated into our pasture this morning.

About two block away, not far from our tram stop, there is a horse pasture and a garden store with rabbit pens outside. A few blocks away near our local hospital is a goat pen we occasionally visit with carrot treats. Two blocks in the other direction is a field with some sheep. And so on.