My husband (who is perfect and wonderful in every way imaginable, but is still just a man, after all) has offered to give our four goats and Lambert the ram to our farrier, who wants them to clear some land he has recently fenced-off. (A plan hatched because my husband is sad for the dozens of Leland Cypress trees he planted that the goats have munched into oblivion.)
I, too, am sorry for the denuded trees. Still, I had some reservations about moving the goats on to help with another person’s land-clearing project. I still have reservations, because like many people, I have the opinion that I’m the only one who can do right by the animals I have committed to caring for. They’ve done a good job for us, and we love them. How would they feel about starting over somewhere else?
Well, one cool thing about telepathic animal communication is that you can go directly to the animals in question and find out their opinion on the subject.
I didn’t have to talk to each and every goat (and one sheep) in question. I only had to pose the question to the group, then find out later what the matriarch of the clan had decided about the matter: “Yes, we’ll be happy to go and help out for a while,” Esmeralda said. “But not forever, because you know you’ll want us back soon enough.”
And yes, I know this. (My wonderful husband has conveniently forgotten his multiple bouts with poison ivy, along with visits by the few venomous snakes who wandered up from the swamp in previous years–one of whom cowered under the porch in dismay, his rattles buzzing like a high-impact lawn sprinkler.)
The goats and Lambert have been excellent at their jobs of clearing land, eating up all the poisonous plants, and keeping various venomous snakes from venturing out of the swamp. And they’ll be happy to do that for our farrier until he’s satisfied that his land is clear-enough. They’ll be happy to come back home when we need them back again.
I didn’t believe it till Esmeralda told me, but I guess she’s right. You can always depend on a few goats (and one sheep) to help out with spring cleaning, wherever and whenever it’s needed–as long as they know they can come back home as soon as the job’s done. According to Esmeralda, starting over’s a good concept that isn’t to be feared but embraced, because every new decision is just a step along a path that may one day lead right back to where you started.
