On Getting 'Cowed!'

This New Year's Eve marked a milestone in my life - I turned 40, but even more auspciously, I got 'cowed."

You see, there is a tradition in my small suburban neighborhood that apparently began a decade or two before my family's arrival. On momentous birthdays (usually your 40th), a very large black and white plywood cow appears in the yard of the birthday boy or girl, and is usually painted with a witty saying such as: 'Holy cow! (Name)'s 40 now!' or ' Lordy! Lordy! (Name) is 40!'. You get the picture.

Sometimes the cow is fully dressed - mine sported a grass skirt, a straw panama hat, and a glittering boa. There were also helium-filled balloons flying from the cow, my mailbox and front porch. Last year, I also saw the cow on other lawns; once dressed in a hard hat and pocket protector, standing in the middle of a decorative graveyard complete with tombstones sporting black crepe streamers and black balloons. I've also seen the cow decked out in nurse's garb with so many balloons attached I thought it might fly away. But no, there it was on my lawn in all it's glory the morning of my birthday.

I have no idea who started the cow tradition, or how many lawns it has graced over the years. All I can tell you is that it makes me smile. To think of the effort it takes .... I mean, first the cow must be located within our subdivision's club house, or at the last recipient's house. Then it would have to be painted to cover the last message and re-painted with the new message. Just imagine lugging a wooden cow across a lawn, coaxing it to stand, accessorizing it, and trying to be stealthy about it, to boot.

It's not so much the cow that makes me smile. It's the gesture. The friendship. It reminds me just how blessed I am to know that I have people who care about me enough to go to the trouble. Spreading the love my friends, one cow at a time.....