apples, i'm home.

What can I say about these kids? Now 3 1/2 months old, Kesava and Madhava are truly the apple in my eye, the curl in my hair, the puff in my chapatti, and the highlight of my every day. The last two weeks, myself and Balabadra Prabhu, one of the old-timers around here, have been taking the boys out for daily walks. For some reason, they listen really well. A few taps here and there, maybe a tug or two, OK, sometimes big tugs, but then off we go, over logs, over bridges, around the lake, through the courtyard, etc. Balabadra's training methodology emphasizes discipline through sound vibration, and it seems to work.

Cows aren't like dogs. You give a dog a bunch of commands, followed up by the appropriate action, and then reward with treats. But cows aren't so much into the treats. They are big mellow creatures with big hearts. Before nursing time in the morning it's a whole nother story, but during training, they prefer kisses, lots of them, like every 50 yards or so. It's almost out of control. It's almost too personal. And suddenly I find myself all buttered up and blushing when I talk about them. These boys are melting my heart and training me more than I could ever train them. Just when I least expected it, socked in the stomach by the ol' one-two love punch with two bull-headed babies.