Sacred Family Cows

We're milking a cow at our house now. We've milked goats before but with this cow giving us over three gallons of milk each day, we feel overrun by milk sometimes. So we have pigs.

I took my cousin Jerry some butter the other day and he was telling me about his father's favorite cow story. His family always kept two cows to keep their large family well-fed and one of them had gone dry. He heard that a man up the way had a milk cow for sale and went to see it. The man with the cow proudly showed him the cow and went on and on about just how gentle and good-natured she was. He put the milking stool down first on one side of her then on the other and milked her a little to show she could be milked from either side. But Jerry's father said, "You've told me all about this cow and how good-natured she is but you haven't answered the only question I've asked you about her: How much milk does she give? I've got a big family and I'm in need of a cowthat gives at least 2 1/2 gallons a milking."

The man pushed his hat back on his head and said, "Well, I know you said that. She's such a good cow though. She only gives about a gallon a milking but she's so good-natured, I swear, she'd give more if she had it."

Our cow is not so good natured. She's a little bit contrary. Like me. I like her a lot.