Every Kid Needs a Pet

Every kid needs a pet. On our farm, pets came in pairs and ended up weighing more than a ton.  I'm talking about teams of oxen.  My three sons belonged to the Merrimack County Oxbows 4-H club, competing in oxen and beef cattle shows in NH and Maine.

Our life with cattle started in 1981, the first year we moved to Epsom.  We got a couple of freezer beef animals to raise at the edges of the pasture in which we were building four commercial greenhouses.  Over the next 27 years, we would have as many as 50 head of beef cattle and oxen.  And a couple of horses to ride.

Since we always had a crop of flowers in the greenhouses, we could never leave the farm for more than three days at a time.  That necessitated finding entertainment at home (riding the horses) as well as meaningful learning experiences for the boys (training their teams of oxen).  To this day, I contend that training oxen is one of the best leadership skills development activities for young people by instilling patience, consistency, dedication, and the deep satisfaction that comes from building a trusting relationship with working animals.

I bought a used bus from Dail Transportation in Epsom and fitted it out as a camper in the front and livestock transport in the rear; we christened it the OxBus.  It carried the Matteson Family and up to 14 beef/oxen at a time to as many as 10 county fairs a year, for several years. 

As individual 4-H competitors in the public arena of the county fair, the stakes were high for the kids to demonstrate the effectiveness of months of training in the barnyard. Being off the farm while surrounded by the faintly illicit pleasures of the county fair was a farm boy’s reverie of freedom and responsibility.  How valuable to learn at an early age that freedom and responsibility are inseparable.

I believe the starting point for serving as a state representative is recognizing the need to balance individual freedom and collective responsibility by fashioning policies that safeguard personal liberty while at the same time forming laws that address public safety and the common good. 

Civil society functions at a very high level in New Hampshire, a consequence of our political structure that infuses towns with the obligation of self-governance.  Many of us are required to make town government work, and by electing or appointing so many people to local public office, we assure a deep bench of experience that has been tempered by disagreement and leavened by caring cooperation.  How valuable to learn that freedom and responsibility are inseparable.

Family photo from about 1994