By: Sherry E Engler

As the Christmas season quickly approaches, I often find it a time of reflection, inspiration, and appreciation for the greatness of living in the Southwest. My mind travels chaotically from Christmas décor to Christmas gifts to Christmas tasks to Christmas cooking, but most fondly, to Christmas memories made with friends and family in this great region of the southwestern United States.

And strangely, my mind often travels not to my memories of Christmas, but to the memories of Christmas’ long ago as told by my good friend, Cowboy Talltale. Because his Christmas tale has resonated with me so many times, I wanted to share it with you because it truly is a tale of the gifts of the prodigious southwest. 

Christmas gifts as told by 

Cowboy Talltale:

“Long, long ago, when I was bout twelve, the family had struggled all year and my daddy decided we needed to work extra to earn Christmas money. So, he talked to my uncle and the two agreed that Jimmy Bob, my thirteen-year-old cousin, who didn’t have a lick of good sense, and me would round cattle up in the Mazatzal mountains. Now, that’s just how it worked in those days. Parents just told you what you needed to do, NO asking.

I dreaded it! Of all the cousins! Jimmy Bob? Really? So, the day came for me and Jimmy Bob to mosey our horses up the trail and gather up cows. The rancher the cows belonged to was gonna give us twenty dollars each which was considerable in those days. The catch was we each got to keep ten and we had to share ten dollars with our families to show the spirit of Christmas giving. Really?

Anyhows, Jimmy Bob and me argued all day! ALL DAY LONG! I had told my daddy that Jimmy Bob didn’t have a lick of sense and he encouraged me to be patient with him. But as the day dragged on, every cow we could have rounded up, he scared them away. One time, he sneezed so loud, it even scared me. Another time we had just about wrangled one and he screamed because he thought a bee landed on him — too dang cold for that! And the day dragged on with little, actually, no progress at all.

Then, we saw him, a small black calf, probably a yearling, lying under some brush, bloated by eating something toxic to him. He was near on the brink of death.

‘Jimmy Bob,’ I says, ‘Come on. It’s getting late and we need to leave him be, so we can get out of here by dark. It’s getting late and cold! Now you come on!’ I scolded.

Jimmy Bob started crying. Have you ever seen a thirteen-year-old cry over a yearling calf? Not pretty!

After a crying fit, Jimmy Bob argued, ‘The coyotes will get him. I can stick him and get him unbloated and he will live!’ 

Before I could even say any sane thoughts, Jimmy Bob pulled out a sharp knife and quickly stuck the small calf’s abdomen tenderly. I thought he had killed the poor thing; but rancid air steamed out of the small furry body, giving the young animal a chance at life. I’d heard of ranchers saving cows this way, but at twelve I had not experienced such. Within just minutes, the young calf started gaining strength.

By then, I was starving and thirsty and freezing. Jimmy Bob gathered sticks from a Mormon tea plant and some small prickly pear pads with his leather gloves. He started a fire and roasted the prickly pear pads till all the thorns burned off and he poured water out of his canteen into an old gold mining pan he always carried on his horse, and brewed tea. To this day, I am grateful to Jimmy Bob. The fire was delightful; the young calf looked like he would survive, the Mormon tea was hot and warming; the prickly pear pads burned in the fire- uh not so much. Awful! Just awful. I think you have to acquire a taste for cacti.

Anyhows, to make a long story short, Jimmy Bob and I became friends that day. I realized I had underestimated him; we became the best of buddies until he passed a few years back. The young calf survived, and the rancher was so grateful, he gave us the money promised even though we didn’t round up any other cows. My daddy and uncle came looking for us that night because they were worried sick and found us sipping our Mormon tea by the fire, petting the young calf; our horses tied nearby. Relief filled both of their faces and they even hugged us boys.  And that is one of my fondest Christmas memories as a boy.”

I often think of Cowboy Talltale’s Christmas tale and all the lessons of Christmas giving it shares. Thinking of the warmth of the Mormon tea, I decided to venture on a hike and find the plant of the Ephedra species which is indigenous to the western United States. I found the plant on the hilly terrain of a Utah Juniper forest, surrounded by other desert scrub brush and manzanita in an elevation of approximately 5,000. 

My dilemma is I cannot tell if it is Ephedra Viridis (Mormon Tea) or Ephedra Trifurca (Mexican Tea). Both of these plants were used by indigenous peoples for a number of medical maladies including congestion, sinusitis, allergies, depression, overeating, and other medical concerns. A word of caution: According to the “Ephedra Viridis Wikipedia” site, toxicity may be a concern and should only be ingested after a doctor’s recommendation.

And because of this warning, I have decided to forego the tea-making and make Christmas Ephedra decorations instead. And just one more word of caution: the pointed ends of the ephedra plant are very VERY SHARP, so I recommend using leather gloves. 

(Just a thought: don’t you wonder in prehistoric times, who volunteered to try the various plant products for the first time??? Can you imagine the thought process, “Okay, if this doesn’t end with a fatality, we will put this plant into food production.” WOW!) 

Perhaps, many Christmas gifts are produced naturally in our beautiful geographic region by Mother Nature such as Mormon tea and prickly pear; but I feel it is the spirit of the inhabitants such as Cowboy Talltale and Jimmy Bob who make the Southwest a grand place to live.



From our house to yours, may you have a joyous and cherished Holiday celebration. May you give relatives like Jimmy Bob a second chance and if you are a Jimmy Bob, may your relatives love you as you are. And as a Christmas challenge, see how many gifts of the Southwest you can find. I think I am going to find an Agave plant and figure out the tequila recipe. Blessings and Shalom, Always.