Conceptis Sudoku

The object of Sudoku is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once.

Ask Google to find you some Arkansas cows to cuddle, and the first suggestion that pops up is Brush Creek Horse & Cattle Co. off Arkansas 45 at Fayetteville. But owner Lorel Hoffman says she and her business partners are not inviting the public in to pet cows and horses.

“A neighbor and I, we were going to start, but then covid hit,” Hoffman said Tuesday. “We had to sell the livestock, except for one exceptional Brahma steer, who is named Uno. He’s the only livestock left, and he’s being kept as a family pet.

“So, this is a covid story, really.”

The partners had also planned to offer yoga with animals, pony cart rides, birthday parties and sleepovers in a bunkhouse.

“We’re just taking it as it comes, but there aren’t any plans to reopen. I hate to say that because I think it is something that people are interested in, and it is beneficial for special needs children,” she said. “Other people wanted to scheduled yoga with horses, that’s kind of a popular thing, too. But it wasn’t to be.”

Her neighbor Tanya Jones, who owns Uno, said Thursday that she hopes to revisit their plans after the pandemic ends. Right now, introducing strangers to Uno would require too much close contact among humans. But once the threat of the pandemic is gone, Uno could become the therapy cow she was training him to be, and work with people with special needs.

“It’s really amazing,” she said of cow cuddling. “Before the pandemic I was having a few people come out during his training, and it’s amazing what it does for some of the people that have mental issues. It’s amazing what they can do with the animals.”