You
can’t call yourself a goat farmer until you’re able to sell one off (something
I’ve yet to accomplish for over a year now…but funny how life works).
Detachment is a tough lesson to
learn, but as with rivers, so with goats; you can’t log jam the current. The
secret to life is the flow of things, which means, yes, occasionally…you gotta learn
to let go.
Nobody loves
her kids more than I do. As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, my farmer friend
Thurman said my biggest problem is naming things, which of course, means, every
little face merits a name (for one doesn’t just toss out names willy-nilly). Still and so, it was becoming clear (especially
with the last five babies that happened on the scene over the past few weeks)
that life would flow easier for everyone if we narrowed things down a bit….thinned the herd as the expression goes.
Challenge was: who to let go, and how to let go.
God and nature have a funny way of
stepping in to help when you accept that you need it. No sooner had I come
to grasp the concept of releasing Rosey’s pups did I get a call today asking if
I had goats for sale.
I knew this day was coming; it
nearly came a week and a half ago when Thurman took his own goats to market
(for reasons I wasn’t as ready to embrace as I thought). I bailed on that
little trip, but today’s guests I welcomed with open arms. The difference?
Their interest in taking on goats was to return to a life they once loved,
having sold off their herd a couple of years ago to move further south to care
for an aging mother.
I knew I was doing the right thing
as the sweet lady told me of her many other pets (llamas, donkeys and a St
Bernard to guard). But the final confirmation came when, having loaded five of
my babies, she asked me to please “Write their names down” …after all, these
weren’t going to market. Instead…they were heading to a farm where
grandbabies and goat lovers would spoil them every bit as much as I had.
I go to bed tonight peacefully,
knowing that this too, is a part of the farming experience. With 17 (of the
previous 22) goats less stressed for the wear, more peaceful for having more
space…more food, I am reminded once again, as with farming, so goes it with
life. Today’s lesson…learning to let go and knowing it’s all going to be ok.
No comments:
Post a Comment