CHRISTMAS ON THE FRIO

CHRISTMAS ON THE FRIO        

By

Wylie Dougherty

December 1, 1956—I started a new career as a Jet Aircraft Mechanic with the NM Air National Guard, leaving Clovis for the rest of my life.  I had met a young girl, by accident or fate, who was a recent graduate from Albuquerque High.  Ruth Ann Easton was her name, the oldest of a family of five girls.  I invited her to come to the ranch for Christmas and she accepted, along with her parents.

They all suffered from a bit of culture shock as there was quite a mob, with my 8 brothers and sisters overwhelming them with numbers.  Two in-laws were there along with 5 nieces and nephews.  On Christmas Eve Mom always read the story of the birth of Jesus from the Book of Matthew, we sang some Christmas songs, hung our stockings and retired for the night.

Christmas morning we had the usual big ranch breakfast then off to the Christmas tree, stockings and presents.  Ruth and her parents were totally in awe of how the ranch people lived, ate and enjoyed each other’s presence.   We always had an orange or apple in the toe of our stocking with a small gift, nuts and hard rock candy filling the stocking.  My Brother David had a cigarette lighter in his sock, and Mom only remarked “did you think we were stupid”.  His smoking was, in his mind, a secret—not.

That day we took Ruth’s Dad for a tour of the ranch, visiting cattle and horses in all the pastures.  Touring 6,400 acres was a little difficult to understand for someone who had been a city dweller for a couple of decades, but he often spoke of how he enjoyed the reception and the escorted tour of the ranch.

I have never said that our family was normal, and Bill proved it Christmas night.  We were sitting around in the living room when Bill walked in wearing only his jockey shorts, dropped down, did 50 push-ups and left the room.  A natural event for family, but a little unusual for my wife to be—coming from a family of 5 girls.  Ruth learned that my little brothers would shock her over the years by their stunts. 

The ranch continued to feed our family for years, we would buy a beef, have it processed in Clovis and split it with the in-laws, good eating beef, grass and grain fed.  Ruth and I look forward to our 56^th Christmas together this month and our 56^th Anniversary next June.

  

Glass Block Art by Ruth Dougherty

for Mil's Place
By Wylie Dougherty
Guest Writer