The Day After Christmas & Sad Cows

     Is the day after Christmas the worst day of the year? I always thought so, especially as a kid. I was driving around today, which happens to be the day after Christmas, and I got to thinking about the holiday from a couple perspectives. One train of thought focused on Christmas now as an adult. The other thoughts dialed it back a few decades to me as just a kid.

     The first time I heard the great expression 'Don't count your chickens before they hatch' was on a Christmas morning. I was probably 10-years old and we were living in San Antonio, Texas. My older sister, Laura, and I were going downstairs to see what Santa had brought us. Laura, who I'm pretty sure didn't want any part of her little brother so early in the morning, wasn't nearly as excited as me.
     Me: "I bet we got bikes!!!"
     Laura: "Don't count your chickens before they hatch."
     Me: "What's that mean?"
     Laura: "We probably didn't get bikes."
     I may not have known the meaning of when chickens do or don't hatch, but I was about 10-steps ahead of Laura. In fact, I was at least a good hour ahead of Laura. What she didn't know and what I DID KNOW is that we did in fact get bikes from Santa! How did I know? I knew because it was my regular practice in those days to wake-up earlier than the rest of the house and sneak down for a Santa preview. So, I guess that means I had enough since to check my chickens and make sure they hatched.

     Another thing I remember as a kid is feeling sad for cows on Christmas morning. It was definitely a quirky thing, but very real for me. I'm not sure when I first noticed my bovine empathy, but to be honest it still exists to some degree even now.
     I noticed it this morning. Granted, it's the day after Christmas but that twinge of Angus angst was still there. I don't have the same feeling for horses. They always seem more social to me... more frolickly. I definitely don't have the same sentiment for dogs and cats, probably because they most likely have the run of the house. But for cows, maybe pigs and sheep too, it's a real feeling. I guess it's because even if it's not Christmas, but more definitely on Christmas, cows always look sad.
     So my logic must have been that on the one day that's the pinnacle of excitement for children, it must have hurt my heart a little to think a cow had absolutely no idea what it felt like to get presents.

     My beef with the day after Christmas is easy to analyze. Seriously what kid would like the day AFTER the best day? The day after Christmas means there are 364 more days till Christmas. I really can't express clearly enough my disdain for December 26th.
     You'd think that was then, this is now. Surely, the day after isn't on my 'day-dislike' list anymore. But oh, it is. I felt it today driving through the pasture seeing the big, black cows primed to pop with their calves. That sight made me sad for the cows which reminded me it was December 26th which got me thinking that I shouldn't count my chickens before they hatch. For at least a little while, I was 10-years old all over again.

Bill Robertson, I'm also not a big fan of Tuesdays.