I've always been really into folklore and just thought I'd share this bit.My family is Pennsylvania Dutch. My maternal grandmother never spoke English at home on a regular basis until she was 16. I was born with the recipe for Shoo Fly Pie hard burned into my brain. The PA Dutch are a fairly superstitious people, (The hex signs on barns, practicing Pow Wow magic, etc) although I've recently learned of a rather charming piece of information for the first time.
For anyone expecting in December or thinking about cycling next April, the PA Dutch believe that on Christmas Eve, cows gain the power of speech- from being in the stable in Bethlehem, presumably. (What cows have to talk about, I'm not 100% sure, but I can't imagine it would be very interesting) At any rate, according to the lore, anyone born on Christmas Day inherits the ability to understand them.
I don't know why this tickles me so much, but it does.
3 comments:
The ability to understand cows.
It reminds me of one of David Letterman's top ten lists - "Least-Desired Superhero Powers." One of them was "The ability to communicate with corn."
Cow whisperers. How bizarre.
Ok, I started laughing a little when I read your post, and now Molly's comment has officially set me off...
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