What's all this cock'n'bull?

cock-and-bull story

noun 1. (informal) an obviously improbable story, esp a boastful one or one used as an excuse.

I like telling stories. I get this from Roger Major, my Dad, and Mark Twain. Twain said "there are no bad stories, only bad story tellers" (or something like that). Dad, on the other hand, lived an unbelievable, somewhat pliable, truth. The nice thing about stories is that anything that happens is simply a story; the perception of what happens is subject to the observer; though we both can witness the exact same thing at the same moment, how we convey it will be different.

So here's a story of why there are 12 hours on a clock face and 60 minutes in an hour. Take the  tip of your thumb of your left hand and touch the tip of your pinky finger on that hand. That's counting 1. Below that joint you have another part to your finger; 2, and then the third joint, 3. Continue to each finger now counting 4, 5, 6...I'll wait...yup! You have 12 joints in your four fingers! Now, do that again. Twenty four! Again, 30 something, again, 12 more, again...ok, we're losing track. Fortunately we have more digits on the other hand to keep track of our 12 counts. Every time you count twelve on your left hand, hold up one digit on your right. That's figgin' amazing! We can count to 60 or any other number up to that just using our fingers as place keepers. That is what is called a sexagesimal system of mathematics which we use to this day to make the world go 'round. Good story, huh? Yeah, maybe I just made that up...

Here's another: I was born April 29, 1957. That is under the

astrological sign of Taurus, "The Bull" (April 20- May 20). It happened to be during the Chinese Year of the Rooster; in English the rooster is also called the "cockerel" or "cock"  (unfortunately slanged into vulgarity). Nineteen-fifty-seven was the year of the Fire Rooster, as is 2017. The Chinese horoscope is based on a sexagesimal mathematics, as is the Babylonian, hence the significance of the number "12" in both. The Chinese took it further and put the 12 into 5 groups of their "elements"; wood, fire, earth, metal, water. When you turn 60 your sexagesimal cycle is complete and it is very unlikely you'll see another.

So, a good story isn't so much in the facts, but the telling. I realize my take on reality isn't any more factual than yours. I won't knowingly lie to anyone, but have my own "alternative facts" based on my perception formed over this sexagesimal of years I've lived. Pieced together enthusiastically and as eloquently as I may, it might make for a good story, even if it is cock'n'bull.