It's remarkable what little things we remember and how we cling to those ideals and expressions for the remainder of our lives. My little case in point is surprisingly silly. It has to do with the devilish and very adolescent practice of cow tipping. "What the heck is that?", you may be asking. I can assure you it has nothing to do with 15% gratuities at the Keg, nor is it a slice off the age old argument as to whether filet mignon is a better cut of meat than strip loin.
Cow tipping is just what the name implies. It so happens that cows sleep standing up, so if a person is stealth enough, it is possible to sneak up on one and pull two legs out from under her and down she will go. Hint - make sure the two legs are on the same side, otherwise the cow will do a face plant or a butt drop. That would be cruel!
I have only experienced this tipping phenomenon from the comfort of a semi-reclining theatre chair. It was when the kids and I were watching an animated Hollywood movie that I think was called "Barnyard". This was several years ago when Kendall and Avery were wee ones. We still joke and laugh about the silliness of the idea. It was even sillier in the movie because the main character was a cow named Otis. Otis was a boy cow! Otis had utters and a girlfriend. Confusing perhaps, particularly if you are from my generation, but my children took it all in stride. Kids today are certainly much more accepting and worldly than I ever was. As a kid in the late 1960's, it was as normal as bell bottom pants to have our fresh milk miraculously appear on our doorstep each morning. The still chilled milk would be in reusable glass bottles that had a flimsy cardboard seal. Ain't no way our kids would be drinking that stuff now-a-days. Some cow may have pee'd in it.
My now half grown kids and I are reminded of the shenanigans of Otis and friends almost daily. There are a couple of dairy farms near our house and the black and white bovines must wonder what the heck we are always smiling at when we drive by the muddy, sea salt air whipped fields. They'd be wise to sleep with one eye open.
I know that decades from now, whenever I want to take Kendall and Avery with me back to a time of simplicity and innocence, I will simply have to ask them if they want to go cow tipping. I'll remind them to avoid any cow with a deep gravelly voice,who can stand upright and goes by the name of Otis. That dude, if he hasn't yet been turned into ground beef, is definitely on to us.
