From the Day He Was Born

4/11/2015 – 12/31/2021

Eddie T. Goat

From the day he was born (not the night, but the day)

He was trouble (not Monopoly, but Trouble)

He was the thorn (not the rose, but the thorn)

In his owners’ side (not the back, but the side)

They tried in vain (not in artery, but in vein)

But it never caused him nothing but pain

They weren’t home the day he died

This is a song lyric only lightly edited; don’t think I’m trying to be poetic on my own. Eddie seemed a little slow even from birth. He was double-inbred. We were soon to discover he had problematic hooves. We tried all sorts of things but could not do anything to remedy the situation or make his walking less painful. The following year his sister Zowie was born with the same condition, so we stopped all inbreeding immediately.

He adopted an unusual gait and a habit of going down on his front knees, which gave him arthritis. He was also prone to wounds that wouldn’t heal and becoming disgustingly dirty even for a goat. His problem hooves had to be cared for twice as often as those of normal goats.

In short you can see we had here a child with a disability. It is so hard to know when to end an animal’s suffering. Last winter Eddie developed some problems getting up on his own, and I started voting to put him down; but it was a winter thing, and he went on to have a good summer. Unfortunately, it didn’t take very many cold winter days this year before he had had enough. And unfortunately, the going-down-and-not-getting up came on suddenly, severely, and while we were away. Keep goats long enough and eventually everything happens, including the worst – having your goat-sitter need to be the officiant over an end of life. I’m afraid we’ve permanently traumatized Penny.

My husband deserves to be very proud for how he cared for Eddie all these years. Every three weeks trimming and sanding those hooves, clipping disgusting hair, coming up with ingenious ways to keep bandages on wounds. Troubles are over for both of them.

Goals, Schmoals

My friend Maggie posted her goals for 2022; and banal as they were, they were at the same time uplifting to read, because a year ago everyone’s goal was just to survive.

In that spirit, I give you…

Kick Killer Insomnia to the Curb.  It would be unrealistic to say that from now on my goal is to sleep eight hours every night of my life.  But the kind of 110% awake killer insomnia that makes me promising to kill myself in the morning…  with my new pal Mel A. Tonin, I hope to make that a thing of the past.

Lose Absolutely No Weight as I eat exactly what my body wants.  Familiar now with both my biomom & biodad’s phenotypes, my pudge factor is actually exactly where it should be.

Food Is a Sacrament.  Whether it be a fantastic home-cooked dinner, a night out, or a simple bowl of oatmeal… Ah, Meaning!

Continue to Grow My Career in Astounding Ways.  Techlab was probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; but now I find myself positioned in a key role on a heavily “agile” incarnation of Fedwire which is a whole new world.

Be at 1.5 with Nature.  I used to be on Woody Allen’s wavelength: “I am at two with nature.”  Finally after decades of rural living, I am inching asymptotically closer to one…

Frolic with Fiber.  No particular fiberific goals, as the goal is specifically the general (Joe Oxymoron).  Having fun is the only goal.

Read, Read, Read.

Occurs to Me

My m-i-l has all her marbles.

She has excellent physical health, with the exception of a broken bone.

Which has received top-tier medical attention.

And is healing.

Broken bones being one of the things that medical science has a proven track record of being able to understand and fix.

She even has a good amount of money saved.

She has not one but two phones at her disposal, and a new tablet.

And a list of useful phone numbers given to her by a social worker.

Really, is there anything I “have” to do here? Or even should? Besides provide loving support?

Yarny Yarn

I got enough of this to allegedly make a sweater. It’s 42% “Superkid” Mohair, 40% Nylon, 18% Merino Wool “Extrafine”.

“Superkid” may or may not mean what we in the biz call “first clip.”

Or it may mean a kid like my baby Ramona, who is so super!