Just Enough

Bessie Anne, as pictures have shown, doesn't always have sense to come in out of the rain.  When it comes to heat, however, she's a pretty smart cookie with enough sense to stay inside.  I gather up milk buckets, etc., to go to the barn in the morning.  She lifts her head from her cool spot on the entry tiles and says, "You're on your own, Mom.  I'll be here when you get back."  As Steve used to say about the goats, "They're your toys.  Go play and have a nice time."

Extremes in temperature, hot or cold, make me wonder if I have any sense at all.  There are days when I'd be lying if I said I was eager to do chores.  Delay doesn't pay, though.  Dragging around in the morning doesn't make the situation any better.  "Maybe I need another cup of coffee."  "I'd better watch the news to see what the weatherman has to say."  "Oh, look!  The hummers' feeder is almost empty."  Any and every excuse not to rush down into that oven-like barn and sit with an overheated goat seems like a good one.  Same thing in the winter when the barn is a freezer.  The only one I'm fooling is me.  It only gets hotter (or colder) as the morning wears on.  I know that.  And still there are days when I procrastinate.

The funny thing is, dripping sweat or dripping rain notwithstanding, I get a tremendous sense of satisfaction from the animals and fowl in my care.  I enjoy their company and their product.  I like being a part of their lives, as they are a part of mine.  That's enough to keep me doing what I do.  And Bessie Anne is waiting when I get back.