The Water Buffalo

In All by Stephen Kurkinen

A few days ago our girls looked out the window and shouted, “Mom, look! a water buffalo!” For those of you who don’t know us, our family lives in the countryside of Taiwan, surrounded by rice paddies, bamboo groves, and jungle-covered hills. Our neighbors are farmers, who plant mainly rice, but also a wide variety of fruits, including bananas, dragon fruit, pomelo, and papayas, to a large variety of leafy Chinese vegetables, yams, beans, corn, and peppers, and more.

Most of the fields around here are tilled by tractor, and then smoothed before being flooded for the rice planting. However some of the neighbors still use more traditional means to carve out the perimeter of their fields. They hire a local farmer, who raises water buffalos, to come and plow the edges of the field old-world style, tearing up grass, and other weeds that have taken root since the last harvest.

It just so happened that our neighbors were not in a hurry that day, and seeing our wonder-eyed girls, they asked if they would like to sit on the water buffalo’s back. At first our girls were a little hesitant, so we urged them to try, saying that it might be the only chance they’ll ever get. As you can see from the video, the girls thought it was quite an experience. Though when asked, they said that the buffalo’s back was tough, and it’s fur was ruff and prickly!

This kind of thing doesn’t happen all the time, out here in the countryside, but when it does, we sure try to enjoy every moment. It was another close-up look at one of God’s mighty creatures. How creative and powerful our God truly is! May we always be on the watch for opportunities to see and enjoy His wonderful creation.

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