Pods for the Goat Boys

The things we do for our pets...Today was bitter cold and windy, I had 22 items on my to-do list plus an extremely good book calling for me on the couch - but the goats were restless and wanted to be taken for a walk. How could I say no? Anyway, maybe I'd find a few more pods in the field...

Some people hunt for coins on the ground, or four-leaf clovers. In our family, the current treasure is what we call "pods," the dried brown seed pods which drop from our two honey locust trees in autumn, and which, we have discovered, are the goats' most favorite treat. Crunchy, fibrous, nutritious (I hope) - the goats munch with delight when they find one, so I got the idea - let's collect them and store them as a snack all winter!

Problem - the goats have already eaten most of them, and the trees are nearly bare. Every day I "walk the grid" of our yard like the forensic detectives in my favorite mystery series, eyes peeled for pods. Yesterday I found five, today only one. Rationing has gone into effect. I figured out that even if I give each goat only one pod per day, we will barely make it to Thanksgiving.

Not that pods are all I think about...despite what my friends said when I posted a sign on the church bulletin board looking for "pod donations." (None of my friends have locust trees, sadly.) There are holidays to plan for, and birthdays. We discovered three stray kittens living under our shed. My husband nearly cut his hand off in an accident at work. (Good thing I have all those first aid supplies left from the goats, since he refused to go to the hospital!) Emily passed her drivers license test but somehow I am unable to let her drive by herself. (I might have to follow her around in my van the first few weeks...) And this afternoon both my daughters were out with boys - life is moving a little too fast for me!

Emily and her friend pulled into the driveway just as I was heating up dinner. Out the window I saw them carefully unloading a large plastic tub from the back seat. "Mom!" called Emily. "Wait till you see what I got!" Together they carried this mysterious crate to the door - oh, please don't let it be another litter of stray kittens...I recalled that this boy lived near a farm - and then I knew. Oh my gracious - it's an orphaned baby goat who needs to be bottle-raised and she's brought it home - how can I say no? How can I say yes? Oh, I want to see how cute it is! Mind churning, I yanked open the door, and the two of them triumphantly displayed a tub overflowing with...pods. Pods! Apparently they had been climbing trees at a local park, discovered a gigantic locust tree, and spent the afternoon collecting hundreds of pods for the goats. (I think I like this boy!)

Although I am sort of missing that baby goat who needed me...