![Fish pond in foreground, a line of trees and a convent behind with a blossoming tree.](https://laureldecher.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/p1060034-e1460370424771.jpg?w=660)
In the small village of Swisstal-Dünstekoven, a one-time convent was built solely with materials scavenged from the Roman water line. Now it’s a farm with Scottish Highland cows and reflective peacocks.
Lesson #1: Try a bit of creative re-cycling. If Roman ruins are in short supply, maybe you have a fragment that makes you laugh. Or just a bookshelf in the wrong place.
![Peacock looking at its reflection in a mirror in a sunny farmyard](https://laureldecher.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/p1060022-e1460369682341.jpg?w=660)
At least two mirrors are propped up against the historic buildings in peacock-accessible places. I’m guessing mirrors have something to do with peacock mental health and the display of feathers. It looks a little bit too much like “selfies” for comfort.
![Scottish Highland calf, brown and shaggy in a green meadow walled in with a stone wall.](https://laureldecher.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/p1060017-e1460370705528.jpg?w=660)
This brown, woolly, Scottish Highland calf seems to have a sturdy self-image already.
Lesson #2: Don’t look in the mirror too long. Keep mooooving. (Sorry.)
An eccentric older relative was playing with the automatic water-er, slurping away noisily for a few minutes, then picking up its head to look at us, indignantly or defiantly. With that much hair over the eyes, it’s really hard to tell.
![Black, Scottish Highland cow with head in waterer.](https://laureldecher.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/p1060026-e1460372005326.jpg?w=660)
![Black, Scottish Highland cow with head out of waterer and face covered with shaggy hair.](https://laureldecher.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/p1060025-e1460372041890.jpg?w=660)
Who am I to say what’s silly behavior? I make up stories. Maybe this cow is a distinguished water musician. Not much audience yet. Doing the practicing in obscurity thing. That’s okay with me.
Lesson #3: Enjoy creating. Maybe the rest of the herd will be by later. Or not. But you will have had the fun of messing about.
Lesson #4: Notice the artists in your life.
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