A Grateful Community

We did a yard yesterday which was very small and narrow with lots of trees to fence out. We took just a trailer load to the yard of the goats most into hopping in. They are getting hip to the trailer load game. This means a mere 56 of the crew were lucky enough to go to work. The others had to wait till we were done to go out altogether in the greenbelt.

At first there was the usual excitement and exuberant exploring, then they were a bit concerned- calling for munching buddies which hadn't made the cut. After awhile they settled down to eating with the example of the calm grazing horses which came just for the grass detail.

The home we worked at was one of the most peaceful in itself that we have spent goat time at. The courtyards had a very nice layout with lovely trees and bushes as well as tasteful statues and inset tile scenes in the walls. The backyard was especially calming with its Creeping Thyme lawns and rosemary and- all types of plants and trees and bushes.

At the end of the day the goats were given the Russian Olives to trim up. They did with gusto! A favorite of the goats for sure. Afterwards when gathering the fence back up after the goats were driven home, dad pruned the trees lightening their load and setting them on their way to being shade trees. Mark meanwhile gathered the trimmings for the goats to finish up. We were rewarded for the extra trimming with heartfelt thanks and to my hardworking dad a few hugs from our patron, Elaine.

The appreciation we receive from folks every day is amazing. It is heartening and certainly very rewarding to be doing work which we feel is good for all involved including the environment and the goats. The horses and dogs are working for a purpose which is the kind of work we all hope for which satisfies the need to please which is so strong in social creatures.

The few negative and unhappy people we encounter are indeed very strong in their own right. But these are so far and few between (and seem to have a hard time regardless of goats crossing the road or protective dogs greeting them or goats crossing the usually invisible border into their land from the greenbelt) that they can't be taken too close to the heart. The dozens of glowing faces we light up every day outshines them as light fills up a dark room.

Vegetation management within the community of Eldorado is intense and a lot of work, but the support and enthusiasm we are infused with by the residents here makes it a rewarding way of life.