Christmas time is always the happiest time of the year. As a kid, writing to Santa was always stressful because the letter had to be in early so Santa could make, or find and deliver exactly what I asked for.
When asking for my Santa gift, I couldn’t ask for too much because there were millions of kids and I couldn’t blow Santa’s budget. I couldn’t change my mind after the letter left either. Then after the letter left I had to be very good at least until Christmas or risk being struck off Santa’s map.
I was told that Santa liked very cold milk and homemade cookies on the table when he came and dad had to be reminded to leave a few flakes of nice green hay in the yard on Christmas Eve for the reindeer.
Preparing for Christmas always signaled a couple of extra shopping trips to the big city. Sometimes we went on the train from Shawville. The shopping trip seldom included a visit to a toy store because Santa already had his letter, so the train ride was the most exciting part of the shopping trip.
Getting a Christmas tree was a wonderful experience because it meant my dad harnessing the team and hooking up the big sleigh. This was after dinner because dad used the same sleigh in the morning to transport the manure each morning from the barns to the pile in the field. A couple hours after that, any manure left on the sleigh would be frozen solid on a cold December day and not soil the Christmas tree or the bale of straw dad took to sit on or even the old buffalo robe that was thrown on to keep us warm.
We didn’t have a chain saw, so dad brought a buck saw to cut the Christmas tree. The bushiest Christmas trees were always at the edge of the bush where they got plenty of light. I always wanted a really big tree, but dad reminded me that the ceiling was only nine feet high so we were limited to an eight foot tree.
Mom always made us leave the fresh tree on the kitchen floor for a couple hours to melt off any remaining snow before it got installed in the parlours. Mom went to the attic to bring down the Christmas tree box with lights, tinsel, and decorations which were installed in that order.
Grandpa and Grandma lived with us but grandma was usually baking goodies for the season and left the tree decorating to mom and I. Making homemade Laura Secord chocolates and mom’s nuts’n bolts were also a wonderful Christmas tradition in our house that everyone could get into.
Christmas day on the farm is extra special with animals happy to greet you when you first open that stable door. They know that fresh hay and grain is coming, the barn will be cleaned and bedded with clean fresh smelling straw and the cows will be milked before the farmer and his family will sit down to breakfast.
A farmer’s greatest gift for Christmas is to enter his barn with no broken water bowels, no sick animals and no breaks in the cleaning, feeding or milking equipment. A special gift is a newly born, healthy baby calf. A special gift for the cows — if nothing is broken to take up valuable time — is for the farmer to carry a brush or curry comb in his pocket and as he goes from stall to stall milking the cows, he brushes or curries each animal for a few minutes. Time spent brushing an animal is often appreciated by the animal with a lick or some other gesture of appreciation.
The farm dog always accompanies you to the barn in case it’s needed and the cats will patiently sit around the bowl on the floor of the barn waiting for it to be filled with milk.
At Michigan State University, the dairy barn recently offered students the opportunity to de-stress before writing exams by cuddling or brushing a cow. The college dairy farm charges $10 for half an hour of brushing or cuddling a cow. Each student is instructed how to approach the cow without spooking the animal, the milking process is explained, how animals are cared for and fed and how to brush the animal. Soon all stress and worries the student arrived with are replaced by their attention to making the cow feel cleaner, happier and better looking.
Milk cows are excellent therapy animals similar to therapy dogs. Both are very gentle and seldom get spooked.
Farming is the most dangerous job in Canada and sometimes very stressful, but most farmers are surrounded by friends, neighbours, pets and animals who all help it be one of the most rewarding professions too!
Merry Christmas.
Chris Judd is a farmer in Clarendon on land that has been in his family for generations. gladcrest@gmail.com
