the Matriarchs of this herd. Officially registered as Crazy Wisdom Dairy. National Dairy Goat Association. Official and de facto. Because they Rule. It is simply understood. Oona and Onday are bosses. They are also looked to as interpreters of circumstance and events. At moments of confusion or danger or even unsure ness, They act as one. they are relied upon. Looked to.
i sit in one of the plastic adirondack chairs some up from the feed shed….three times a day. Its propped against a tree. the first is after the morning feed. I rest there. Catch my breath. Look at stuff from that vantage point. In the morning, its always Mercy who comes. Everyone else is scarfing down the grass hay…Mercy comes and stands. For Touch. I scratch her forehead, between and around her ears, run my fingers down her spine, on either side, ending above her tail where i scratch again….it's an intense scratch, a combination scratch/massage. I run my hands down each leg….lift the hoof. Back to the forehead. Next leg, lift, back to forehead. Being able to lift a hoof is useful. She stands, staring off. I am always first to be done with this. i put my forehead against her and say Thank You, get up and walk away. Sometimes she stands there a while.
Recently, maybe 2 weeks?, 3?…. Oona has come. After the evening feed. Same ritual as with Mercy.
For the last two evenings, Onday has come. She, without hesitation comes directly between Oona and i. Oona does not object, but as you can see in her eye above, she has thoughts. Onday is one of the first Goats born to Jenny's effort in New Mexico. She is the first i named. There were three kids…two bucklings, to be sold as wethers and so…"unnamed" and a doeling, Onday. Dixie Cups…. U tube Iko Iko Iko Iko Onday. Onday. probably for me, the most deeply loved. The man who bought the buckling wethers kept their names. Iko and Iko. We have been with these Goats a long time. ALL their lives.
windthread 
Leave a comment