February 4, 2021
It was a pretty normal day. We attended a homeschool class about Astronomy, visited my sister, ate lunch, and went to the library. I should have known this day seemed a bit too normal.
When we got home, we switched into boots, threw some feed to the chickens, and collected eggs. Surprisingly we didn’t crack any eggs. None of the chickens flew the coop. Even the cats were chill and didn’t dart here and there in their daily starvation dance. What an especially enjoyable perfectly normal day we were having.
And so, with some happy whistling from Everett and a calm turn of the key, we rode out in our hay-filled gator, collected some water, and headed to the goat pasture. Our goats are temporarily in a smaller pasture, and upon entering the big pasture, we noticed an escapee. We knew the goats were bound to be discontent in the smaller pasture, and it was no surprise to see Jonah running to us, hollering to tell us he was hungry.
Now, I’ve written about Jonah before. He’s the goat we were wrestling when Brandon accidentally squeezed a syringe of goat insecticide into my face. I don’t completely blame Jonah for this mishap. After all, neither Brandon nor myself are professional goat farmers. Nevertheless, Jonah has a track record of a trouble maker and if it can be eaten, jumped over, or squeezed through, it will be Jonah doing it.
We rolled the gator to a stop and began throwing hay to the goats inside the pasture. Jonah quickly realized he was on the wrong side of the fence for food. As you can imagine, he had a mellow panic attack as he ran along the fence line watching the other goats eat. I tried coaxing him through the gate, but true to his nature, he wanted to do it his way and devised an alternate plan. And so, with a couple practice hops, he attempted to jump the fence.
It didn’t go well. His leg caught in the wire and he was left fighting and dangling as he tried to free himself. You know how they say mothers can have supernatural strength come upon them when their children are in danger? Now, Jonah is far from being my child, but based on what I found myself doing next, one can only assume that I have a soft spot deep down for Jonah.
I rushed in and with all the brute strength my 5′ 3″ frame could muster, I picked up struggling Jonah to keep him from breaking his leg. As I struggled under his weight, I hollered for my boys to help free him. Not only was he stuck but I was stuck too as I couldn’t put him down or he’d break his leg.
He was struggling, and I was struggling to keep from dropping him. I breathlessly told Emmett to run home as fast as he could to get Brandon. Jonah, meanwhile, turns to me in his despair and starts trying to eat the buttons off my jacket. Only Jonah would think about eating at a time like this.
I adjusted my grip on the heavy goat and buckled. “HURRY!” I hollered across the pasture in the direction of my sprinting boys as I continued to waver under the weight of Jonah.
My boys made it home and delivered the message. When Brandon arrived on the scene, I wouldn’t say we were chilling, but Jonah and I had made the best of a bad situation. He had stopped trying to eat my clothes, and I had found a way to prop the burden of his stout winter body on the fence. I passed Jonah over to Brandon, and we managed to untangle his leg and hoof. Lucky goat. He walked straight through the gate with no fuss and happily ate hay with his herd mates like nothing had happened.
While I didn’t have plans today to hold a goat until my arms felt like jelly, I have learned to roll with the crazy. Besides, I’ve heard that normal can get quite boring, and there’s no worry of that happening here.
stillsmallfaith.com 