I wonder

Yes, I wonder how many of my children would agree with me that our goats were good.

I say they were, and it was a good time and a good thing that we had them. We learned stuff. To drink goat's milk and that it was good, especially if you fed the goats good hay. Good hay isn't easy to get or cheap to buy.

We learned responsibility--the goats had to be milked twice a day, no matter what. We learned that goats are smart. And stubborn, especially Cookie. She was big and pushy and strong and wanted her own way. But I was never afraid of her, never afraid to be in the pen with her or to take her up to the milking stand.

Carni (I don't think it occurred to us that we could change her name but I wish it had), our little chocolate brown goat, may have been afraid of Cookie. She certainly took a lot of guff from her. And Cookie got there first--wherever--and ate the most. Fun to watch her eat a peach or nectarine and plop the seed out the side of her mouth while she was still chewing.

Carni was younger, gentler, a pretty little goat. They both gave plenty of good milk, which we sold to people whose children were prone to ear infections. That's another thing we learned. The fat particles in goat's milk are much smaller than those in cow's milk, which means they--the fat particles--do not adhere to the mucus membranes of the human body and do not cause allergic reactions.

But the thing about selling the milk was that sometimes--often, as I recall--folks would call for milk, we'd set it aside, and they would never come.

We made ice cream. Goat's milk is rich and creamy and makes wonderful ice cream. And I made cheese. But eventually, we had more milk than we could ever use and decided our goat adventure was over. But wait. That didn't happen until we had our goats bred and got some babies. Cutest animals you'll ever see, so it's hard for me to tell that most of the babies we got we sold to people who wanted to eat them.

Does anyone remember how long we had the goats?

Our goats made me wonder about the scripture that says the sheep will be on the Lord's right hand and the goats on the left. Sheep are not smart. Really. They are not smart. Goats are. So maybe sheep are not willful. Goats are willful. Maybe that's it.