Maritime
maneuvers for Let's Dance, the Love Me Tender, Captain and crew, are
not yet completed for 2012. October promises a patriotic sea cruise
up the Potomac to Washington, DC and then further up the Chesapeake
to take in the sights of Annapolis and Baltimore from the sea side.
This summer, however, brought adventures of a more earthy nature.
Daufuskie,
South Carolina, our island home port for the past 8 years, offers a
wide array of diversions. A few years ago, the amazing Pat Beichler,
a Daufuskie legend, turned her talented mind to the creation of a
community farm on the island...open to all and worked by many. Land
was donated, pine trees felled and milled on site, buildings erected
by local volunteers, animals brought by barge and ferry....a farm is
born! Serviceable buildings sprang up as donations rolled in -- the
Goat Barn (aka the Chevre Shack), the Poulet Chalet, the Dairy Barn,
Lapin Lodge, the Cochon Maison...you get the picture. Animals were
adopted by individuals and groups and the farm became reality.
One
friend adopted a pair of proud turkeys -- Fred and Ginger. Fred
quite literally ruled the roost until his continued episodes of bad
behavior involving his claws and farm visitors earned him room in the
freezer to await the next holiday season. Ginger is suitably
chastened. Chickens of varying ethnicities roam the farm, laying
eggs of pink and blue and green; guinea hens prowl for insects;
Gracie and Muffin (the resident mother-daughter bovine duo) swat
flies and munch hay. And there are, of course, the goats....my
personal favorites!
Having
a bit of downtime between voyages, I volunteered for a shift at the
farm. Pat was happy to slot me in two evenings a week to feed and
milk.....hmmmm. We met at the farm for my first lesson in goat
herding. It all seems pretty simple. You gather, separate by
gender, distribute fresh hay and water, etc. Easy enough, right?
Confident,
I return three days later. As instructed, I stand on the path to the
Dairy Barn and yell "Zelda!". As the dominant female, she
leads the charge, and all fourteen goats come flying my way. So far
no problem. I open the door to the Dairy Barn and begin pushing away
eager little snouts to admit only the big girls. These are pretty
pushy goats, so there is a bit of confusion as I block and
weave....finally I have five goats in the barn. They immediately
begin gnawing on any loose item in the open area outside the stalls.
Stop! I have to get them settled in their stalls. Each stall has a
picture of its occupant over the door and a name. Easy deal! I lure
Lizzie into a stall, confident that she is at home. Her winsome
underbite is distinctive. Kimmie and Zelda are soon corralled as
well, and I am left facing the two remaining hopeful little faces. I
have two goats left and only one stall! Something is not right here.
I check the photos and realize that Rosie is in Kimmie's stall. I
switch them. Still two goats and only one stall. I know there are
only four adult female goats, so it's clear that an imposter has
intruded. But which one? I
bend, I look, I compare.....hmmmm. This is not so hard. The
imposter is identified and scuttled out of the barn. I will deal
with him later!
About
an hour later I have segregated the girls and the boys, the toddlers
and the teens, and have gifted them all with fresh water and peanut
hay. Contentment reigns in the goat barns. Now for the interesting
part --- milking! Pat has demonstrated and it looks easy, sort of.
Kimmie is lured into the milking stall with the promise of special
treats and she readily climbs onto the low bench. She's done this
before. I sit, flex my fingers and reach under her rounded udder.
She ignores me completely. Okay! I squeeze and pull gently, squeeze
and pull gently. Warm milk begins to fill the pail. Wow! This is
so cool! I continue. Warm milk squirts onto my knees. Oops! I
hope that Kimmie is too busy with her kibbles to notice my fumbling,
but she senses my hesitation and, raising her left hind leg, places
her hoof squarely into the pail of tepid milk. Drat. Practice will
surely make perfect!
Sensing
a new, terrestrial focus for my energies, Bill gifted me with a cool
pair of Wellies for my birthday and I put them to good use at the
farm where footing is often, uh, mucky. Over the summer the goats
and I have come to a comfortable understanding....they know I'll be
leaving for offshore duty soon, and are patient with my fumbling farm
tactics. The chickens, who have absolutely no discretion as to where
they lay their eggs, probably won't miss me, but surely Ginger will.
She appreciates the occasional gentle stroking of her feathers. It
has been a trip and I hope that Pat will welcome me back to the fold
when the fall voyage is completed.
The
summer of 2012 -- from mermaid to milkmaid -- how great is that?
Let's
(Barn) Dance......Carol & The Captain
