Tuesday, May 12, 2009

They're Back!

I'll do the last installment on Dandelion Wine tomorrow, but today we got “the girls” back from The Buck, and I can think of nothing else. We drove two and a half hours to the farm near Montpelier, and when they heard our voices Blossom and Alsiki came out and stood against the fence so we could pet them through the wires.

They look wonderful, sassy and shiny in their shorter summer coats. And they smell terrific—at least to a goat person--musky and dusky and bucky, the way goat cheese tastes when it has been left too long (for my taste). But on a live doe, the smell speaks of fertility, and rites accomplished, and babies on the way.

Only Blossom, alas, was observed in flagrantis with the buck Challenger. Alsiki, either frigid or discreet, showed no signs that the human eye could discern, though I'm still hoping that Challenger discerned something, and took action.

On the way back from the farm we stopped at a pet store to buy a couple of fish for our little tub garden. They were out of garden-variety goldfish, so we bought a couple of Shubunkin goldfish, small and spotted and supposed to do fine in an outdoor pond. They will have to be brought inside after freezing weather sets in, but that is a long time away. I floated their plastic bag in the tub for half an hour, then released them into their new home. I made them a hiding place out of an old flower pot. Tomorrow I will get them a water plant or two. I want them to be happy.

Blossom and Alsiki glommed onto their hay and grain after the long trip, and at dusk I led them out into the field, along with the dogs, where the grass is almost as tall as the goats. I put Wolfie and myself on a down-stay while Lexi went off looking for deer poop. The goats nibbled, and the sun began to set, and Wolfie kept his eye on them every minute. To relax him and them I sang Catalan folk songs, over and over, until I was almost asleep. The goats stayed close by, and the wood thrush played its flute in the woods.

When I put the dogs in the house, the goats insisted in going into their barn. So I went in and closed the door against coyotes and God-knows-what, and sat with them and brushed them until we were all in a trance. I eventually tore myself away and came back in the house smelling of buck, feeling fulfilled.

4 comments :

  1. Your animals lead quite the life. Catalan folk songs!

    I even like your label: goat sex.

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  2. I'm thinking fertile goat thoughts for the girls.

    Yes, a label like 'goat sex' should get some interesting traffic coming through here.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks! Keep your fingers crossed for the next five months. That should do the trick.

    ReplyDelete

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