What is THAT?

This past weekend, I was sitting in my rocking chair, slowly waking up as I sipped my morning dose of caffeine.  I was spending time reading my Bible, and enjoying the quietness of the morning.  The kids were still asleep.  The dogs were stretched out on the floor beside me.  I had the fire going downstairs, and I could hear the soft crackle of the wood burning along with the gentle creak of my rocker. 

I glanced out the window every once in a while.  The sun was beginning to peek out over the darkness of the morning, and it looked like another beautiful sunny day. 

Just then.... something caught my eye.  Something white, and furry… .moving quickly too!

I narrowed my eyes to see what it was indeed… something white and furry running down the road in front of my house.  Hmm…

I got up to get a closer look.  The dogs stretched and looked at me, wondering what I was doing. They don't like moving much in the mornings either. 

Rubbing my eyes, making sure I was still awake, I pushed aside the curtain to get a closer look.  Rubbing my eyes again .... just to be sure... Am I awake, or is this a dream?  Hasn't the coffee kicked in yet? 

.... Well, by golly, I'm not dreaming....  it is white and furry, and it’s not a dog.  It’s got horns.  What in the world?

By now it had reached my driveway, and so I went into the kitchen to investigate further. I stepped out onto my front porch and the dogs crowded around me, and then they saw it too. 

Our German Shepherd spotted the white furry, horned creature running down the road, and she began to bark, and run out the door.  She was going to protect me from whatever it was, and she was letting the whole world know her intentions!

Well!  It was a goat! A goat on a very important mission it seemed too.  It was running fast, clippity hopping down the road at quite a pace.  Especially when it heard the dogs barking, it really picked up speed.  As it got just past my driveway, I wondered – what if a car comes down the road, what is it going to do then?  And WHO does this goat belong to? 

I grabbed my phone and called my neighbor who has a miniature animal farm next door.  She rescues animals from bad situations, and gets them back healthy again.  I see her coming and going quite often with trailers full of sick animals that she is bringing home to nurse back to health. I figured she could help me with the runaway goat.

Sure enough, she sighed a big sigh when I told her there was a runaway goat running down the road.  She said it belonged to a friend of hers.  Apparently the friend had told her that it didn’t like to stay in fences.  She had just brought the goat home late last night, and put it in a pen, and was going to try to make sure the goat had a better place to stay this morning.  

But Mr. Goat had other plans.  Yes indeed!  He had roads to patrol, animals to chase, and new pastures to explore. No time to wait for a better place to live! He was taking matters into his own hands!

My neighbor asked me if our son could help her son round up the runaway goat.  Of course, I knew my son would be happy to oblige, only…. he wasn’t out of bed yet.  So I ran and got him out of bed. 

Back to the door to see where the goat was.  He had found the horses on the other side of our home.  These neighbors have their horses enclosed with only a wire electric fence.  The horses had spotted the goat and come running to check it out.  I tried to video tape it, but didn’t quite catch it in time.  The goat ran inside the fence with the horses, and had them running in circles.  I was afraid the goat might get hurt, but apparently he was quite able to take care of himself.  Before long, the horses were running away from him! 

So, the boys finally got themselves dressed, and off they went to find the goat.  He had meandered down to the neighbors house, and chased off their dog too.  The boys grabbed a pail of grain, and a leash and off they went in search of this wayfaring goat.  

Before long, they found him.  The goat knew exactly where to go! He found a shed to hide in, and was snooping around the shed when the boys caught him.  They got the goat on the leash, and that goat took off in a spurt, and the boys had trouble keeping up with him or holding on to him.  That ole goat…. No doubt this wasn’t his first roundup, and he sure wasn’t going down without a fight! 

But, he was no match for three boys who hadn’t even had breakfast yet.  He slowed down to a walk, and cooperated for the remainder of the trek back home.  

Here's a video of how the events of the morning went down... I still wasn't awake, so please excuse the shakiness of the camera.  I needed another dose of caffeine before all this took place! 

After I had started this blog, the thought had crossed my mind, like… what if I run out of things to share with you on this blog?  Wouldn’t that be terrible!  I mean… if I have to post one day and just say….. nothing! 

Well, I now have no worries about that …. after Mr. Goat traipsed by my door this morning.  I was reminded that… living in Idaho is never boring!  You just never know what the day is going to hold!  You just gotta keep your eyes peeled, and the trusty camera handy…. And be ready for …. The unexpected! 

 

Well… until tomorrow…. Be blessed and Stay Warm!