Goat commitment
For the last month, I've
been going through the motions with our goats --- feeding them, letting
them out to graze, but not really allowing them deeply into my heart.
Artemesia's loss was just too raw to consider repeating that experience
anytime in the near future.
But there's no point in
including optional activities into your life unless you embrace them
fully. So, after much soul-searching, I've decided to commit and try to
make our herd back into a thing of beauty and joy.
Mostly, the decision is
just a trick of the mind. But there will also be some changes involved.
First --- our little wether (who has become the herd
boss despite his minuscule size!) needs to learn to walk on a leash, to
have his hooves clipped, and in general not to shy away from my
approach. Next, we're gonna lick this
parasite problem,
starting with diatomaceous earth (already applied), ramping up to
shaving, then hitting the chemical insecticides if necessary. And,
finally, I'm putting our preordered
doeling onto my list
of things I'm anticipating with honest pleasure. Wanna help me dream up
a name for a little, floppy-eared goat due to be born in the next week
or so?
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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For the turning of tides, you could use the name Tide.
The pictures in this are beautiful.