Last month I had the pleasure of working with Out Here Magazine, a publication put out by Tractor Supply Company. They sent me out to the tiny town of Maysville, Mo. According to Wikipedia, the 2010 census logged 1,114 residents, but I'd be surprised if that were true. It's set back off of I-35 a ways, far from fast food chains, shopping malls, and traffic jams. Here, off short a dirt road, is the place Rick and Alma Owen call home.
Alda and Rick raise cattle – approximately 50 head currently inhabit their 260 acre farm. However, Alda is not your run-of-the-mill farmer. She's legally blind. To help her do her daily chores, including hearding cattle through different pens, feeding calves, and counting the herd, she has a service dog. Jo, a two-year-old border collie, has been with Alda for just over a year now. She's still learning, but already does a great job aiding her owner. Among other responsibilities, Jo's biggest job is to keep the cattle away from Alda while she performs her chores since Alda has almost no depth perception. The two have a great language of love, and it was very cool to document (well worth the 5 a.m. wake up call).
