Apifera Farm - where art, story, animals & woman merge. Home to artist Katherine Dunn

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Monday, February 09, 2009

When goats get gifts


I suppose now that the post office knows the donkey gets mail, and a lot of it, they won't flinch if they knew that the recipient named "Guinnias" on today's box is a senior citizen goat.

A very thoughtful reader from way out east sent the old man his favorite - animal crackers, and Teddy Grahams. I told her on this gloomy, cloudy, snow sprinkled day, I was tempted to get back into bed with a glass of milk, and dunk my way to oblivian. But that would be stealing, not to mention selfish. She had meant to send them for last Friday's Guinnias Day, but the late arrival is the same fun as getting a birthday present from afar a week later - it just makes the day being celebrated a bit longer.

To my delight, Ms. Elida also enclosed a copy of Anne Lamott's book on writing, and pointed out that Lamott makes the statement "Writing makes you a writer." I am so thrilled to get this book, and will jump into it tonight. It seems like an encouraging message out of the sky, as I just finished Chapter 3 of the my novel, so perhaps my guides are all amused and delighted, and wanted me to know. It's wonderful when people I've never met, [although, my gift giver is a loyal follower of my blog and my art] reach out with morsals like this, encouraging me, and just making the world seem like a pretty darn good place to be, if one has to carry a body around.

A funny part of the story, when Elida went to buy the animal crackers, she was buying a lot of snack stuff for a super bowl gathering. As the cashier checked it all through, she came to the bags of animal crackers and said, "Oh, you're even getting them these fun cookies," and Elida said, "No, those are for an old goat in Oregon."
It's wonderful that some how the whim of Apifera has touched a checkout woman in Conneticut.

So, to my fairy from afar, Guinnias is appreciative, as am I. And to let you all know, last Friday's special Guinnias Day was very special - the weather was warmish, and he and I spent some of it together in the vegetable bed which we are prepping for planting. At the last minute, I decided 'no guests", which allowed him to enjoy some time around me and cookies without getting banged by Frankie. We did enjoy the company of late arriving chickens. I neglected to make a special head piece for him, but one knows, clothes and accesories don't make the goat.