| Catherine Berchtold |
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| Westerns The Westerns of the 1950s and 1960s were a stable in our house during the 1970s when they aired on national television. I can not fathom how many times my dad said, "See if there's a good western on." And, most of the time, we'd find one. My children, however, have never seen a good western until last weekend. Knowing we were going to be snowed in, I borrowed my parents copy of Lonesome Dove, a 6 ½ hour western, to help pass the time. On Friday night we sat down as a family with hot popcorn and cold ice cream. The movie started and the questions began. "Why don't they just get in a car and drive?" "Jonathan, they didn't have cars back then. This happened a long time ago." "Why is that horse acting so wild?" "It is wild. They captured wild horses and they're trying to break them." "Can we get a wild horse?" "No." "I wanna see that part again with the snakes in the water and they bit that boy's face." "No." It had been years since I'd seen a western and I'd forgotten how violent they could be. "Are those cows?" "No, they're buffalo." "What's a buffalo?" "Those brown, furry animals." The questions were endless. "Why are the Indians mad? Why are they shooting arrows? Can a person walk with an arrow in his leg? Who made those arrows? Can you live with your leg cut off? Can you walk with one leg? What is that stuff he's drinking? What's whiskey?" The boys continued to drill me with questions even as the credits rolled across the screen. "Why did that doctor cut that man's leg off?" "It had gangrene in it from the arrows. The doctor had to cut it off or it would've killed him." "What's gangrene?" "Kinda like a poison." "And, the poison jumped to his other leg?" "Yes." "And, it killed him?" "Yes. The poison went to his heart and killed him." Christopher, the worrier of the family, grabbed his chest and doubled over in a protective manner. "Mom, do I have a good heart?" "Yes. I'm sure you do." Still doubled over, he asked, "Do you think tomorrow you could get me into the doctor's for a checkup? It's been a long time since I've had a checkup." Thought for the day: Broaden your children's fears. Show them a good western. |
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