Today's episode is longer than usual but only because I thought it was worth sharing this little known but heartbreakingly beautiful short story written by American novelist, journalist, and poet James Agee in 1952. You can read this story on many levels, and many critics judge it as pure allegory, and obviously it has that as a primary element in that its main narrator is a mother cow talking to her calf and other calves out on the range. Even if it’s viewed as only allegory, it’s so refreshing to have a realistic portrait of the fate of farmed animals as opposed to those children’s stories that we’re all told, which are all based on lies and deceptive depictions. The stories on which most children grow up certainly never tell the truth about what happens to these animals - including those animals who many live on the most idyllic "farms." To further the satisfaction of this tale, the fact is it’s just so beautifully written lends dignity and reverence to the non-humans who are denigrated in so many ways in our society.