I read in the paper today that L.L. Bean boots are back! They are so popular for this Holiday season they have 60,000 on back order. I dug through a box of pictures to see if I had any pictures of me years ago as those Bean Boots were all I wore. I worked with race horses for years and years. Mainly as an exercise rider on various tracks around the country. But, I would also take breaks from that nomadic life and work on breeding farms and ranches. My travels eventually took me to The El Peco Ranch in Madera, California near Fresno. We wore L.L. Bean Boots as they had a rubber bottom and lasted longer than leather. We had to clean the horses stalls every day. And, did you know that horse urine will rot leather? See, you learn something every day. The El Peco Ranch had goats that were real good at keeping the brush down around the barns. I fell in love with those goats (yes, keep the joke to yourself because I dont need to read about it in the comment section). My favorite was the one in the second picture. I asked the stable hands what her name was. They said, Goat. So I named her Dolly Parton because she had such huge (nice) udders. I dont think the real Dolly Parton would care as she has always been very proud of her ample charms. As was Goat Dolly Parton. She loved to sashay down the shed row of the barn with her udders swinging this way and that. And SMART!!! You dont know smart till you have met Goat Dolly Parton. It is HOT AS HELL in Madera, California in the summer. She figured out that if she went into the barn bathroom and flushed the toilet with her mouth she would get cold water to drink. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? I swear its true. (Now, I must say that the real Dolly Parton is also the smartest business woman I have ever met - so, the goat was named for multiple reasons). One day, this man was delivering hay and Goat Dolly Parton came sidling down the shed row, ducked into the bathroom and then, a few minutes later we heard the toilet flush. That hay man looked at me and said, NO WAY! Then one day, Goat Dolly Parton just disappeared. I was DEVASTATED. I asked the boys in the barn where they thought she went. They shrugged and said, Maybe the coyotes! I screamed out loud like a woman. That thought was too much for me to bear. But, then I had an even worse thought? Most of the boys in the barn were of Mexican descent. I happen to know that CABRITO is a specialty usually served at weddings. Cabrito is roasted goat meat. I had been kept up all night at the loud wedding that weekend. I demanded an answer. Did you boys eat my goat!!?? No, no, no. It was the coyotes, maybe. Heres what I have chosen to think: Goat Dolly Parton loved to wander. I would see her all over that ranch going here and there with her udders swinging in the breeze and not a care in the world. She wandered around like those Israelites lost in the desert that we learned about in Sunday School. Perhaps, just perhaps, someone found her and didnt know where she belonged. So they took Goat Dolly Parton to a petting zoo. And she lived out her life surrounded by laughing children who petted on her, gave her treats and all the cold water she could ever drink. Its possible. I dont think I have the temperament to live or work on a ranch or farm. I am just too tender hearted. But, I do want to own one!
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 01:04:56 +0000
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