Nina Talbot

Painter - Writer
painting, Runaway Cow, by Nina Talbot
Runaway Cow, 2020, oil on linen, 24 x 18 inches

Places in Galicia

Runaway Cow

This place was hard to find--when our driver caught up with a woman walking in the road and asked her where was Vovchuky (Wołczuchy), she said, ‘Right here.’ The only sign with the town name was at a railroad stop. My great-great grandfather Hersch Charak and one of his sons Jacob were born in this town, and emigrated in the early 20th century to New York, must have originally traveled from that same railroad station.

We got water from a hand pump and our driver asked a couple of locals about the town. A sparkling golden Greek Orthodox church spired into the evening sky. While standing there, out of the blue, a black and white spotted cow came running down the road, chased by a young boy. Maybe the cow wanted to travel too …