Joining the Circus

In the past, I've mentioned the Flying Wallendas, the acrobatic troupe of twenty or so mice who go jumping off into space when I lift the cover on the nighttime feed bowls in the goat barn.  The other day while milking I saw a new act.  High up near the roof, a mouse was trying out a death-defying high-wire stunt on the header beam.  Wanting to go  from here to there, he had to maneuver around the stringers resting on the beam, dangerously hanging by two feet while still moving forward.  I held my breath the entire while until he made it to his goal.  He surely has earned a spot under the Big Top.  In ring three, an escape artist performs.  Cindy is one goat who has learned how to open latches on gates and doors, and the reason I have to double lock them all when I'm not down there.  When one of the milkers is up on the stand, her head is locked in between the stanchions by a dowel.  My personal Houdini has discovered a way to silently maneuver the dowel out when she's done eating.  I'm facing her nether end and am not aware of her shenanigans until she turns and jumps off the stand...ta da!...and I'm left sitting alone with the bucket.  I guess my clown act when I do a pratfall in the wet chicken pen would be my only contribution to the Farview Circus.  The weather itself is a quick-change artist.  Saturday morning was warm enough to warrant a tank top and I was considering removing the cover from the windows in the barn.  It was a gorgeous day for the party, but by dusk the temperature had dropped and the cloud cover had moved in.  Yesterday I was back in a turtle-neck sweater and jacket, and it's pretty darned chilly this morning without much in the way of sunrise.

Aren't I lucky?  I don't have to run away from home to join the circus!