Sometimes You Meet a Fainting Goat

The twins and I still volunteer at an animal sanctuary. When we showed up for our shift, we were the only ones there and no one had left us a note with specific instructions. We figured we’d start mucking in the first enclosure and work our way across.

The twins were walking in front of me, and something started bleating at us the moment we walked into the main yard. I couldn’t see what they were looking at—only the general directions they were looking—so I called out, “Are those the porcupines? I’ve never heard them make a noise like that.”

And they turned around with their mouths open and said, “There are five goats here.” We were not expecting goats. We were not expecting completely adorable and tiny fainting goats. We reached through the fencing and rubbed their noses and let them lick our hands.

Later, after all of our mucking was done, the person in charge arrived, and she told us we could go into the enclosure. Do you know the pure love of being mobbed by five happy fainting goats? I picked one up like a dog and cuddled her in a chair. She just rested in my lap, looking up into my eyes. My heart exploded.

The lesson learned: Life is amazing, and you can never predict the twists and turns. You may think nothing can possibly exciting can happen today. And then you meet a goat.