Full Moon Madness

Just my luck Matt is away at the second energy conference in two weeks. Last week it was the LIFE conference (Low Income Focus on Energy) and now it's something else in Lake Placid. I can't keep up. I don't mind doing all the chores, as a matter of fact I like doing chores. It makes me happy to putter around my beautiful barn taking care of my critters. That's the quality time I spend with them. Tonight was a little freaky with the big orange full moon and heavy air filled with eery portent. As I was taking care of the chickens I heard a strange, raucous baaa but more maaaaa upstairs. Uh-Oh what's going on I thought. I had to climb the ladder with the hose, cat food, Billy Goat bottle, etc. and went on up. There was Lola, with her horn caught practically on the middle of her back, causing her to fall down in a ball. God knows how long she had been that way. Good thing Big Jim Baldwin is coming next week to shear them. Goats get in all kind of trouble when their mohair is long. I haven't been letting them out for that reason. A goat can get caught on a bush or a fence far away and die before the shepherd finds them. Then I was doing the bunnies, going down the line to the dark, spooky back of the barn (where the lights don't work) and I heard another, grinding, deep throated mournful cry. My head light with the weak batteries was all I had with me, but I told Izzy we had to find whatever was making that sound. We ventured out the East End door and there was the huge musty orange moon, illuminating the valley behind the barn, with dusky light bouncing off the piney ridge. It was sooo beautiful. What was making that sound? I didn't dare go inside until I found out. I walked around the back of the barn into the barnyard and there was a shape lying flat on the ground. It was a goat, one of the few that have escaped from the hay mow where I have them waiting to be sheared, with a horn caught on a ladder lying on the ground! I had to lift the extension ladder with one hand and manipulate the horn through the rungs. Maybe it had been rubbing it's head on the metal when the horn slipped underneath. Who knows. I hate the thought of a long haired goat lying in the blistering hot sun all day, but that could be the case. I pulled her up on her feet and held her for a minute in the dark. She finally pulled away from me to find the flock. Izzy and I went back inside to resume our chores and get inside to lock ourselves in for the night. That finally happened after the White Boys were taken care of and the sheep rounded up and locked in at 10:52 PM. No time or energy to sew or do anything crafty, just to wonder if I have any clean clothes for work tomorrow, but no time to do anything about it now. Good night, Big Orange Moon. I hope you don't have anything else in store for me tonight.