Moo

You gotta have cows. At least if you own a neighborhood grocery store. Going down Olympic or Whittier boulevards these days, you see more cows than you would on a drive through Wisconsin--or Michoachan. There are thick-looking, mysteriously eyeless cows, with heavy udders that say “Milk me quick,” on the side of La Princesita Market on Cesar Chavez Avenue. The cow on the side of the El Zorro Meat Market in Lennox has been caught in flagrante--a milkmaid sits before it with a pail by her side. The mural on the front of El Criollo Market in Silver Lake may be the cow-iest of all--a herd of 17 grazes under a lavender sky. But perhaps the most moving cow is the one on the side of a convenience store in East L.A. Against a red background, it stands alone, paint peeling, encroached upon by graffiti, a symbol of all cows, serene and giving.