First Day At School

It was a big day for Twenty-Two.  This was his first peek around the corner of the barn at the big world that was opening up for him.  Any change in routine with the goats takes a bit of forethought.  Letting him out was no problem, but how about getting him back in?  I decided it might be best to give it a try while he still had a few more nights of bottle feeding.  Those liquid security blankets might be enough of an incentive so I wouldn't have to chase him down at dusk.

Twenty-Two was pretty brave as long as I was standing and watching.  He made a short excursion, but stayed pretty close to the area he could have seen from his playpen.  And then I needed to get the milk back up to the house.  Like any kindergartner on his first day, he followed so closely on the way up the hill that he was bumping into my legs, making little sounds of trepidation.  When he realized I was on the outside of the gate and he wasn't coming too,  he broke into full-throated cries, "Mama!  Don't leave me!"

It didn't take long for curiosity to get the best of him and he wandered in amongst the herd.  Most of the girls just ignored the new kid on the block or pushed him away with a toss of the head.  Inga showed the most interest, following him around, sniffing and talking to him.  Tessie, his mom, seemed to have forgotten him completely.  At exactly two months old, Twenty-Two is a pretty big boy.  Unable to contain himself any longer, he was soon running and doing that oh-so-goat leap and twist in the air.

And that's what got him into trouble.  I went out often during the day to check on my little boy.  For the most part, he learned his manners quickly and was grazing, napping, doing whatever the herd was doing.  However, late in the afternoon as I was going out to water the garden, I counted noses in the goat pen and had trouble locating the eighth little nose.  There he was in the water trough, back legs in the water and front legs over the edge, too scared to yell.  Given that it was a hundred-degree day, he looked for all the world like a kid who'd taken a dip in the pool, resting on his elbows at the side.  It was a bit of an emergency or I'd have taken a photo of that Kodak moment.  Rescued, he gave a good shake and once again clung to my legs, telling me all about this latest adventure.

My worries were for naught.  When I went to the barn at bedtime, Twenty-Two was the first one in the gate and he raced for his little stall, impatient for his bottles.  I know he slept well last night.