Farm & Ranch - Post Register

12
Ihave always wanted a
beautiful Christmas
tree, with flocking, and
red ribbons, and big glorious
ornaments and have it
all sitting in a clean and
uncluttered living room
where everything else is
decorated fancy.
Well, I’ll never get that
because, in the first place
I can’t keep my living
room clean and uncluttered,
and so why have
the rest.
The past couple of
years I have had a small,
fake Christmas tree. Quite
a few years ago at a
Schwieder cousin’s Christmas
party, we made
cutouts of cows, painted
them black or red with
some white on them to
represent Herefords and
Angus breeds. A hole was
made in them so that we
could put a hook on them
to hang on a tree. Each
family at the party was
given one of these cows
as a favor from us. But
we kept quite a few for
ourselves. The past few
years I’ve used those
cows as my ornaments
on our tree. I found some
tree lights at CAL Ranch
that are in the shape and
color of John Deere tractors
and use those for the
PERSPECTIVES
lights.
The past seven years,
our granddaughter,
Sydney, has helped me
decorate our tree. Each
year I bring out all of
our tree ornaments and
decorations and let her
decide what should go
on the tree. Each year,
she has chosen the cows
and tractors. So that is
the route we go. But
why not? This is our livelihood
and we just as well
decorate with it. We
receive a lot of comments
on this and have fun with
it also.
I got to wondering
about Christmas ornaments
and went on my
usual Internet search,
finding some interesting
information. Apparently
most Christmas traditions
such as the Christmas
tree and ornaments
came from central Europe.
The earliest German
Christmas trees were decorated
with food; apples,
onions, pears, nuts, candies
and fruits were placed
on a tree.
In Victorian times,
Queen Victoria's husband,
Prince Albert, a German,
brought the tradition from
Germany to his new home
in England. Soon all of
England was in on it.
In the 1840s, Europeans
immigrating to North
America brought with
them their Christmas
traditions. As society
became more prosperous,
ornaments became larger
in size and the colors
become more vibrant to
reflect the new wealth.
F.W. Woolworth was
the first North American
retailer to sell glass ornaments.
The story goes that
he was not too sure about
this new product line.
However, Woolworth
changed his mind by 1890
when he was selling $25
million worth of ornaments
in his five-and-dime
stores.
The shapes of ornaments
were meaningful to
the early decorators.
■ Fruit and vegetable
shapes symbolize the harvest.
■ Birds represent the
biblical messengers that
bring God’s love and peace
Intermountain Farm & Ranch ❖ Friday, December 14, 2012
Christmas ornaments liven up a tree
Henry David Thoreau wrote a whole
book about a pond and never got wet.
He simply took the time to ponder.
I, too, find myself pondering life’s mystery;
like what is the purpose of a dewclaw? To
measure the dew?
Why do horses have canine teeth? Were
they once carnivores? How do sheep tell each
other apart? Why do ants think they can drag a
kibble of dog food back to the hill? Do they
lack depth perception?
But last night I lay awake pondering why
cows make pies instead of pellets. If they did,
make pellets I mean, would they be like an elk
which is larger than a deer; or just sheep
sized? Or what if they were as big as road
apples and elongated like a rat? It would be
dangerous to walk behind them! I imagine the
diligent hard-working cow veterinarian in the
process of preg-testing, routinely lifting the
cow’s tail, sighting in and getting bonked in the
head by a fecal projectile.
The paramedics would haul him to the
emergency room. The admitting-room nurse
JEAN
SCHWIEDER
STRADDLIN’
THE FENCE
would write down CBC (cow biscuit concussion)
and ask about his insurance. Under the
category of trauma, his policy would cover
horn goring, hoof stomping, poll butting, tail
slashing, cow kicking, bummer gumming and
cud spitting, but no CBC.
Had bison evacuated two-foot-long logs,
think how much easier it would have been for
the Indians and the settlers crossing the
prairie. “Send young William out to gather an
arm-load of dried buffalo sticks for the cooking
fire, we’ll have a wagon train of fun!”
The shape of herbivore poop has had a significant
influence on the development of certain
human populations. Since deer, antelope
to the world. Birds were
also symbolic of good luck
and good fortune.
■ Pickle shapes signify
luck.
■ The fish shape is
an early Christian
symbol for Christianity.
■ Reflecting
ornaments —
those with geometricconcaveindentations
— during
Victorian
times, were
often called
witches’ eyes
and were
placed
on the
Christmas
tree to
fend off any evil
spirits.
■ Star shapes represent
the Star of
Bethlehem.
Now you can purchase
any number of ornaments
to decorate the Christmas
tree with; some fancy,
some simple, but all eyecatching.
I marvel at the
imagination of those who
decorate differently each
year. And not only are the
decorations in the home,
but outside. It is so fun to
drive around and see the
different decorations used
to celebrate this season of
the year.
Some people buy
a new ornament
each year for their
children. Then,
when the children
grow up, get married
and have their own
Christmas
tree, they
have some
decorations
to go with
it. I
never
did that and
wish I
had.
I
might
feel
bad
that I can’t
have the beautiful
tree I dream about,
but our Christmas tree
will always be fun.
Jean Schwieder is a writer
who has spent her life
involved in eastern Idaho agriculture.
Her columns have
been compiled into her latest
book, “Straddlin’ the Fence II.”
It and a previous book,
“Dehlin, A Forgotten Community,”
are available by calling
522-8098 or by email at word
paint@ida.net.
Which would you prefer: pellets or piles?
It was a warm summer
afternoon 12 years
ago.
I arrived home, went
into the house and walked
into my wife’s office. At
her feet was a ball of gray
fluff with great big brown
eyes that bulged out. The
hair was a mixture of gray
and
white
and
was
about
an
inch
long.
The
ears
were
attached
to the
top
and fell across the side of
the head. The mellow dog
was a little timid in the
new location and stayed
close to my wife.
Luck had been on the
flat ball side as she had
not been struck in the
head. She took refuge
under a travel trailer in
front of our house. My
wife was working in her
flowers when she saw the
dog under the trailer,
retrieved and brought
her to the house for protection.
It was evident
that someone had cared
for the dog and from her
manners
loved
and
appreciated
her.
Who
and
where
were
the
owners
was
the
question?
We had discussed
previously getting a house
dog as a companion for
my wife when I was
trekking the world. Picking
the correct dog to
come in and run your
house is not an easy chore.
BAXTER
BLACK
ON THE EDGE
OF COMMON SENSE
This fluffy dog had some
of the attributes but she
belonged to someone else
and we needed to find the
owners.
Neighbors had dogs but
we had never seen a dog
like this in the neighborhood.
She was not an outdoor
dog as she was clean,
groomed and acted like an
inside dog. She made herself
at home in our house
while we pondered the
next move.
My wife noticed a vehicle
driving slowly later in
the evening. It appeared
that the occupant was
looking for something. She
went to the road and
flagged down the car and
asked if they might be
looking for a dog. The
answer was yes. They had
and elk poop was pelletized it forced the
Native Americans to invent the rake, the
sieve and the game of marbles (eventually
leading to casino ownership), instead of the
wheel. Therefore they had no Iron Age, Industrial
Age or Technological Age. They had the
Pellet Age.
I wonder if, by selective breeding and genetically
inserting sheep DNA in cow chromosomes,
could we manipulate cows colons to
form pellets? If we can conquer this technology
we could move on to dog and cat pellets, hamster
BBs, skunk shot, badger ball bearings. But
I would stop before messing around with bird
cloacal manipulation — it could be dangerous.
We would have to carry armored um-shields
instead of umbrellas and duck hunters would
have to wear safety helmets.
I’m getting confused. Where is Henry David
when I need him?
Baxter Black is a cowboy, poet and humorist. His
website is www.baxterblack.com.
Santa’s helpers often reward people’s benevolent acts
EDWARD
MCNELIS
SAGEBRUSH
SMOKE
been visiting the neighbor
and the 2-year-old shitsu
female had wandered off.
They were frantic to find
her.
The owner accompanied
my wife to the house
to identify and claim the
dog, which she did. She
was a young housewife
with children and dearly
loved the dog. She said the
dog had a rupture that
needed fixed prior to
breeding. She planned to
fix the rupture and breed
the dog. My wife hesitated
when asked if she would
like a puppy when they
were born. I jumped in and
answered the question.
Yes, she would.
The owner took the dog
and left. We assured ourselves
that we had heard
the last of that, but took
solace in the fact we had
saved the dog and got her
back to her family. We
heard no more about the
dog.
The day before Christmas
the same year, the
doorbell rang. A lady
accompanied by two boys
and a girl was standing at
our front door. I invited
them in and called my wife
as the lady wanted to see
her. When she arrived the
children presented a blanket-covered
basket to her.
It contained three fluff
balls that had just been
bathed and were 7 weeks
old. She needed to take
her pick from two males
and one female. They were
apricot and white with
great big brown eyes.
We were speechless.
The female was selected
and moved into our home
that day. She has been part
of our life for 12 years. She
reminds us daily that people
are good and yes there
is a Santa Claus. It was a
wonderful Christmas.
Edward McNelis raises cattle,
quarter horses and thoroughbreds
and is a past president
of Idaho Horse Council.
He can be reached through
Farm & Ranch Managing Editor
Bill Bradshaw at freditor
@postregister.com.