A Care Package for the Goats

A friend recently asked me to list my daughters' ten favorite things - limited to items she could both afford and fit in a shoe box. (Sorry, Megan, the life-size Batmobile is out!) Apparently she wanted to mail each of them a "college care package" of special treats. Hmmm...well, Emily likes gourmet tea bags, homemade granola and chocolate-covered raisins; Megan craves pistachios, avocados and sardines in mustard. A good book is always a winner...

But here's the problem - now the goats are jealous. Where's our care package? And so, in no particular order, here is a list of Emerson and Elliot's most favorite things for anyone interested. (Warning - they don't all fit in a shoe box.)

Fresh fruit (especially apple chunks and watermelon, but never pears, peaches or cantaloupe)

Pods PODS! PODS! PODS! (from locust trees, the crispy brown seeds that litter the ground and crunch up so delicious...)

"Orange chips" - a favorite snack created by drying orange peels in the sun until they are hard and crispy

Animal crackers - the more stale, the better. Graham crackers are also an acceptable substitute.

Hot water (which we gave them in the winter and has somehow become a year-round requirement; they turn away at anything less than steaming) and...

Apple Cider Vinegar - in large quantities a necessary additive to their water bowl; they reach their tongues under the bottle to catch the drips as I pour it in and refuse any water not "soured" as they watch

Super-fresh "right from the bale" hay (not to be confused with hay that has been in the feeding tub over an hour and therefore become unacceptable from exposure to air and sunlight)

Paper of any sort, including school assignments, shopping lists, pages from a book or the mail

"Walkie Time" - anticipated daily activity when they are released from their fence to run free and graze wild weeds for an hour or so, and...last, but definitely not least...

Orange Mitten Massage (pictured above) - this bizarre thick rubber glove is so coarsely textured that I had to ask the woman holding the yard sale what on earth its purpose could be. (Apparently it is designed for scrubbing vegetables or peeling potatoes.) Not a bad deal for a quarter, I told Emily, The goats will love this! And they do, lining up for a good nightly rubdown by "orange mitten." Emerson often carries it around in his mouth, looking for someone to wear it...

So, to my family and friends who already drop off watermelon rinds, orange peels and bags of weeds or pods, many thanks from the grateful goats. (What's that - spoiled?? Not my goats!)