Weekly Posting of the Conservative Cow Doctor

Christmas Cousins

We ranched 30 miles north of Forsyth, Montana, until I turned eight. To say it was rural would be the mother of understatements. At Christmas time, Mom and Dad loaded me and my two brothers in the station wagon for a two-hour road trip to our homestead in Wyoming. Because seeing family was a big deal, Mom insisted us boys wear these dinky bow ties with our plaid wool sport coats. Mom also slapped on some expensive perfume picked especially for the holiday. It was nauseating, like riding in the pickup cab with a dog who rolled in something dead. The only way we could make the two-hour trip tolerable was by poking each other and jumping back and forth between the front seat, back seat, and the suitcases. Such car-ride calisthenics were normal in the days before car seats. Recent evidence suggests ADHD and autism are caused by childhood vaccines, but I am not so sure. The incidence of both these disorders increased with the accelerated use of child car seats. If you need proof, consider this: Chain your eager, six-month-old Border Collie next to the squeeze chute while you are preg-checking cows. He will be such a psychological trainwreck in a couple hours you could never cram enough trazadone down his throat to medicate him back to normal. Same thing with Ritalin and little boys. Oops, I rambled off my subject so back to Christmas.

Despite the car ride from hell, seeing my nine first cousins made the holiday trip worth it. Cousins are kids you can play with, not see for a full year, and then start right back up where you were. It is not a coincidence cousins and Christmas both begin with the letter “C.” With all the family gathered we played silly, parlor games passed down through the generations along with bad debt, sour-bagged milk cows and foundered horses. My heart is full of wonderful memories of those celebrations but sadly, my aunts, uncles, parents, grandparents and four of my cousins have passed. Making Christmas memorable has fallen to my generation and this brings me to my point.

A God focused family is the backbone of our society, so it is not surprising our enemies are targeting both the family and the church to destroy America. Patriots must strengthen family ties at Christmas, so bury the hatchets and gather with family. Be the one to re-ignite your family’s love of each other and their love of God. Merry Christmas.