Cows aren't cute

    I love cattle. Always have, but it's not the same love I have for the dog or the horse. Cows are not cuddly, if you know what I mean.
    What caused me to think deeply about this most important relationship of all, love, was the neighbor’s new puppy, Chrissie. For some reason Chrissie seems to like me, as hard as that may be for some folks to believe. I’ll admit I can be a surly curmudgeon at times, but I’ve always felt that any dog that doesn’t love me has a personality disorder. As the deceased writer Lewis Grizzard used to say, “Good dogs don’t love bad people.”
    From all outward signs, Chrissie seems to be infatuated with me. When my neighbor takes her for a walk if my shop door is open the puppy drags my neighbor in my direction. When she’s let off her leash she runs into my shop, skids on the slick concrete and slides into home. She’s almost as glad to see me as the folks were the time I arrived late to a Little League game with the key to the restrooms. When I got there in the middle of the fifth there was a mad rush in my direction. I’ve never seen so many people that were so glad to see me.
    My neighbor paid $1,800 to a breeder in Utah for Chrissie, and I NEVER thought I’d say this, but I think the pup was worth every penny. She’s a breed I never heard of, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, and despite the snobbish name, Chrissie seems down-to-earth, adorable and extremely lovable. She’s got big beautiful brown eyes that would melt the heart of even the most sour soul, and I swear, when Chrissie leaves my shop, giant tears cascade from those beautiful eyes. (Although I’m told that’s a trait of the breed.) So when the coyotes wail at night, I admit I lose some sleep worrying that they or a mountain lion will come and steal my new little friend away.
    It’s hard to have this same sort of love for a cow that would kill you, given the opportunity.  After all, cows aren’t cute. I don’t know of anyone who sleeps in the same room with a pet cow, or takes it with them wherever they go, like folks do with dogs these days. On second thought, my old friend Hap Magee had an old convertible Cadillac with big fins in which he removed most of the seating so a favorite Longhorn cow could ride in the car with him. I have a picture of it and would have given anything to have seen the look on a clerk’s face at McDonald’s when Hap went through the drive-through with the cow to pick up a bag of burgers!

The full article is available in our e-Edition. Click here to subscribe.