Sept 5, 2012 – The Baby Goat – by Carol

As you may remember John desperately wanted a baby goat when we moved here.  Even when every single African person we met told him goats were very very bad pets, not allowable at the school, cost 500 pula, and would likely get stolen and slaughtered, John still wanted a goat.  He said he would regret, for the rest of his life, that he lived in Africa and did not have a pet goat.

I had to be the heavy and outright refuse.

Last weekend John conducted a pottery workshop at a school about 100k outside of Molepolole and HE FOUND A CUTE LITTLE GOAT!   It had lost its mother and was frantically  NEAY NEAYING.  John calmed him and scooped him up to help him look for his mother.

JM and his Goat

I had to again be strong and deny John his most desired wish in Africa!!  I almost feel like a bad and uncaring wife – until I remembered we will be able to have a garden, hang clothes on the line, and keep plastic chairs to watch the sun sets only if we DON”T have a goat.  It was especially hard when we could not find the mother.  I had to nearly threaten divorce to make John set him down.

The little goat was 10 times madder than John and literatlly started screaming (the way goats scream) at me as we walked away.

You can see his teeth!