Saturday, June 18, 2011

Maybe Goats are GOOD!?!

Dear Hank, 
Per invite from our pals David, Kate and Abraham on a Sunday afternoon we took an1.5 hour trek to Capriole, a little goat farm cozied up in some rolling Indiana hills.  Mama and Daddy love to go on long rides that meander through small Main Street towns and you love animals so the trip satisfied all of our tastes.  Upon arrival there were soft drops of rain making us doubt this jaunt but soon after setting out through the barns it left and a beautiful day unfolded.  As previously mentioned goats and Henny equals a love/scared relationship.  You love them, but then at night when you're curled in your bed, thumb in mouth, blankets in hand you hear them knockin' on your window.  The first barn was full of young goats rousting about.  Big buckets of food hung from the fence edge, which your little fists shoved in and out of, dumping the food on the goat side of the fence in a near continuous motion. 
As other people left that barn I set you up on a big bail of straw and you discovered if you 
ripped out a bundle and stuck it out the goats would gladly snack out of your hand.  You giggled and laughed as an eager mouth tickled your hand.  We moved to the barn where the bigger goats and mama goats were housed.  We had just missed a baby goat being born!  The after birth still clung to her hind side and baby worked to get to her wobbly legs.  Bummer! but the lessons of life weren't missed too.  You enjoyed finding and pointing out, loudly I might add, those goats having a poop or pee or the mama goat giving her baby milk from her utters.  All that goat feeding made us hungry so we went to sample some goat cheese.  I am no foodie, I have never had goat cheese, so goat cheese after goat watching wasn't sounding very appetizing.  We tried some anyway and it was very good.  You tried some and decided, "Goat cheese is VERY GOOOOD!  I like goat cheese!"  We ate our sample down by the pretty pond.  A boys playground!  You fed goats, saw chickens, walked long rock walls, threw pebbles into the water, poked sticks through the mud, climbed in a tree, bug watched with Jackie (Kate's mama) and watched Abe's diaper change.  Daddy had to work the next day so we started to leave about 5:00.  I say started because our van was parked passed the goat barns and we got caught up feeding the goats again.  So another hour playin' with the goats and you've shown NO FEAR! NO APPREHENSION! -Until-  the adult barn.  

A doggone goat with a big long black beard came to the fence while you were feeding three other goats and scared you!  You started backin' away, and wanted to leave.  For the next week all we heard was, "Goats are nice!  I don't like that goat with the big bad black beard."  You slept with us that night.  A week later you've started to let it go of the goat with the big bad black beard but just before sleep you tell us, "Don't be afraid of the goats!"  
Love you!
Mama

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