The Goats

Church Hill Road runs from NC Hwy 158 connecting to Hubquarter Road. Along the way is a fenced-in field with an old, old building shell (former house, maybe) weathered and falling down. This is where the goats live; all sizes and probably all ages. I love these goats! Driving by, seeing these goats wander in and out of that shell reassures me that peace can exist in the world, my world anyway.

On occasion these goats have gotten out of the fence. There are times when I must stop my car and wait patiently because they are crossing the road like school children getting to the other side where the grass or weeds are greener. Always, I think instantly of ‘stopping to smell the roses.’ It also reminds me of Cary Grant and Grace Kelly driving around France slowly falling in love with each other and the French countryside. But they were surrounded by sheep flooding the road.

Then there are the times when I suddenly slow my car down to a crawl because the goats are grazing roadside. Very peacefully, the daddy of them all with his horns and goatee (?) kind of looking over his herd is nibbling away. Not a care in the world. Lovely to see.

But recently I see the house that accompanies this field is vacated. Empty. Windows gone. The goats seemed to be gone, too. I miss them terribly. It’s another reminder of how we as a people depend on the acts of others, even those we don’t know to enlighten our lives and how we are affected when they are gone. Then a surprise! They aren’t gone after all! They must have been grazing in another field unseen from the road.