The photo to the right by urikrishna reminded me about an event of my childhood. urikrishna writes about the extra-sacredness of a five-legged cow. In my life, the five-legged cow has a special place, as well.

When I was a kid, living in Missoula, Montana, a big highlight of the summer was going to the fair. That fair, much like the fair here in Flagstaff, was heavy on the 4-H and Home Economics entries. People worked all year to get the biggest bull, the largest watermelon, or the best apple pie for the yearly fair.

This one year, as my brothers and I walked through the fairgrounds, we noticed a big crowd around the cows. Now, crowds around the cows wasn’t a strange event but this was an unusually large crowd. And, being kids, we had to see what everyone was looking at so we squeezed our ways under and between all of the adults to get up close to the “event.”

As we peered through the fence, our eyes got big and our mouths formed those big “O’s” that kids get when they are amazed over something.

Right before us, close enough to touch, was a five-legged cow. This was something cool and new. Yup. What a story we’d have to tell the kids at school (and, as luck would have it, anyone who would listen for the rest of our lives — you’re here, aren’t you?).

Unlike the cow to the right, the leg was not growing out of its neck. Ahem. No. It was a bit more unsavory. It looked like it was coming out of it’s backend. Yes, you heard me. It wasn’t, not quite. But to kids, when you see a leg that close, that’s what it seems like.

For the next few months, especially at the dinner table, we’d regal one another with tales about the five-legged cow. “Do you remember…?” “This is like that time we saw the five-legged cow…you know the one. It had a leg coming out of its….”

Oh, yes. Dinner conversation. I’m sure we were delights to be around.

Was the cow sacred? Heck yes. Was polite dinner conversation sacred? Not a chance. We had a story and would use it any chance we had.

I have seen one other five-legged cow since but it wasn’t as impressive as the one I saw as a child. There are some things that leave an impression. A five-legged cow with a crowd of adults around it gawking is one of them.