The Goat Farm: Part One

Day 50 (part two) - A sidetrip

I had left my three teammates behind.  They were continuing on towards Kennedy Meadows.  I was staying in the desert to go work on a goat farm for a week.  While many may dream of a free lavish vegas getaway or a chance to be on The Price Is Right...working on a goat farm, for me, was something I thought I would only dream about and pine over for the rest of my life...until now!

But, I was still hoping that I had indeed made the right decision as I walked to the Mojave thrift store, the pre-determined meetup spot for the three of us who were going to head to the goat farm that afternoon: Furniture, Ishmael, and I.  It was the perfect meeting spot seeing as we needed work clothes for the farm.

I walked into the quiet little shop and browsed the meager racks of clothing.  I spotted a few items that didn't really match, but they were cheap, and I was going to be working next to goats, I'm sure they wouldn't mind that the $0.69 [slightly ripped, Isaac Mizrahi, bright orange and pink plaid] dress didn't match the only ladies cardigan to be found in the store...an oversized grey knit with home tailored thumb holes for $0.39.

While pondering my possible purchase options Furniture and Ishmael walked in to the store.  Furniture scored in that store, finding some amazing vintage brown pants and a cashmere sweater.  Ishmael took a risk and bought some highwater and highwaisted baby blue pants.  We all left the store pleased and hardly any poorer.

We decided to pass a bit of time waiting for the 3:00pm bus to Rosamond by eating donuts.

(my cinnamon roll!  yummy but it didn't make it into my top three)

Not only did we get tasty food there, but we got a ride from the owner of the donut shop to Rosamond, CA.

Outside of the Albertson's we got dropped off at we also got picked up by our next ride towards the farm.  Sheree, the goat farmer and soap maker came rolling up in a dusty station wagon.  A bright turquoise bandana tied her hair back and a wide smile framed her face.  The three of us happily piled into the wagon and headed down the highway towards more dust, desert and wind.

We arrived at the farm where we met Hershey...

(hershey, the dog with dreads)

...Princess (a sleek big dog), Shilo (a little dog), a parrot, ducklings, geese, many goats, pigs, rabbits, chickens, etc.

Inside the farmhouse we met Bill, Sheree's husband, a spry blue eyed gentleman brimming with energy and full of stories that could make anyone's head swim, and Lacey, Sheree's daughter, who was a little younger than us but who will always be very young in heart and mind.

The excitment was not over, there were vineyards to walk past, greenhouses to go inside, goat milking to watch...

...and our new home to go to, Terry the trailor without running water.  She had a green lanolium floor (maybe a total of 7 square feet), bench cushions covered in green leather (soon to be my bed), a top and bottom bunk, veneer cabinents, and a whole lot of love, warmth, and protection from the wind.

Dinner came and stories were told by Bill as the three of us tried to keep our jaws from dropping too often.  Us three were still on a hiker's schedule, so we retired early, just past hiker midnight (when the sun goes down), plus we wanted to get up at a decent time to get working in the field.


Day 51 - Fast Cars and Confirmation

We started the morning off right.  By seven AM Furniture had eggs frying in the electric griddle on Terry's kitchen counter.  We opened some of the canned peaches from the fruit the farm's peach trees produced back in 2007.  After our hearty breakfast we went to work.

Before we had even gotten to the farm I had asked Furniture if he had heard what we might get to do on the farm.

"Sheree said something about there are lots of weeds to pull." Furniture had replied.

"Hmmm," I thought, "I sure hope she had enough weeds for us to pull for several days.  That doesn't sound like much!"

Apparently I never knew what real weeds were.  There was probably an acre of land that needed weeding, maybe it was more.  All up and down between and around the grapvines and apple trees so they could put the bird nets up over the grapes.  Along the fence line, by the well, etc.  The shortest weeds were just popping out of the ground, the tallest ones were probably 2.5 feet tall.  Thick green stalks with shoots going out every direction, short prickly pants that left tiny little splinter like white hairs in your flesh (later deemed "the haters"), annoying short plants with spread of a foot or two along the ground, gnarly rooted plants, etc.  These weeds meant serious business.

But we got after it and before long we were driving a 4 foot high 8 foot deep trailer full of weeds back towards the burning area.

After 4 hours of work our day was over.  We worked effeciently and since we were only earning a modest keep/feeding Sheree and Bill decided four hours was enough for each day.  Bill and Sheree had told us about a stunt driving show down at the nearby race track and we decided it would be an amusing event to attend on a lazy Sunday afternoon. 

As Ishmael sat at the kitchen table with his now dirtied highrise blue pants Bill said, "Well it's about time to get cleaned up so you can go."

The three of us just silently sat for a moment.  Ishmael broke the silence, "Well this is all I really have."

"Bill the guys only have the clothes they are wearing and their hiking clothes," Sheree added.

Bill went and got a pair of slacks for Ishmael to wear, but it made me realize that I really only had one set of regular clothes, I was close to only having the clothes on my back.  I felt like some migrant farm worker during the depression who only had one set of clothes they had to work in, and they had to try to make look presentable when going out for a rare but delightful weekend outing.  It felt wonderful and awful at the same time.  I was so content and happy I needed nothing else to complete my world at that moment, not even fresh clothes to go to the races in, but I also thought about the fact that in the real world I would need to change and try on 50 outfit combinations before I could walk out the door.  Why had I been so greedy and tied to so many things I thought I needed.  Though I always shop frugally, why had I needed to buy so much when I needed so little outside of food and shelter?  How was I going to be changed by the time I got back to Texas?

Ishmael went and changed and I went back to Terry to get my jacket and phone.  I saw that I had a missed call and a text from Rally, who was supposed to be back on the trail by then.  It was a sad text, that hinted at the depths of dispair, similar to the ones I had felt in leaving LA.  The wind was wearing Rally down and he wanted to know if the offer was still open for him to come and work on the farm.  Furniture went and asked Sheree and Bill and of course they were fine with it, and we would go pick him up after the races.

I called Rally and told him the good news.  His voice was somber and he was so thankful to be coming to the farm...it was a far cry from the bright and postive vibe I had gotten from him previously.  I was so glad that he was coming, for I don't like hearing or seeing other people get down, the farm would surely help him recover and get ready for the trail again.  Then these facts came into my mind: Furniture and Ishmael did not have cell phones, Rally and I just happened to exchange phone numbers on Thursday in case our groups wanted to get ahold of each other upon the Mojave arrival.  I later found out that Sheree did not check the voicemail on her cell until 6 days laters.  If I hadn't been there with my iPhone addiction, would Rally have been able to get in touch with anyone at the farm?  Was I supposed to be at the farm?  Yes.  This was another confirmation, one that was almost as conifrming as a baby goat in my arms.

So the three of us got dropped off by Bill, at the race tracks.  We walked a mile from one track to the next to find our little stunt show where Hollywood drivers were doing 360s on the set obstacle race course.

Then we sat and watched the cars drive by...

...and a small parade unfolded before our eyes.  Before long things were slowing down.  We jokingly held out our thumbs but ended up scoring a ride back to the race track entrance where Bill came to pick us up.

We picked up Rally from in front of the Rosamond, CA Albertson's and then we were off, back to the range while Bill told more stories in the car ride...and I put my finger on his voice, he sounded like the bad guy on The Rescuer's Down Under, that Disney animated film from the 90's.  It was a good voice, made for story telling, and he embellished everything with sound effects, "Neeeeeer! Bbbttttthhh! Shping! Shwwwop!"

While Rally got the tour I went and cuddled with the kids.

Then came the home-made veggie lasagna with freshly made goat ricotta, which I had learned how to make!

It was a good day that was ended by a shower aided by a wonderful facial scrub and homemade soap...and then Terry the trailer lulled me to sleep as wind rocked her back and forth.

DAY 52 - Field Trips

We had weeds to pull.  Rows of them.  We wet the ground to make the roots slide out easier, and our ungloved hands yanked at every stubborn growth in sight.  Soon four hours were up and we were taking our second trailer load of weeds back to the burn pile.

(back row: Ishmael, Furniture, Rally; front row: RB (rainbow brite...me))

(Ishmael and Furniture riding in the trailer after a weed dump, Rally in the Astro van driver's seat...thank goodness for Rally's exceptional trailer backing up skillz)

When afternoon rolled around we rolled along with Sheree to town.  We all piled in the station wagon and like kids that never get to big cities, we got excited about the prospect of a grocery store with pastries.

(Rally - front, Ishmael - middle, Furniture - back)

While Sheree took care of business at the Wally World, we hacked with a hacky sack.

It was strange to be in a civilized area with concrete everywhere and a Super Wal-Mart...was it culture shock that I was feeling?  Was I becoming a person from another world, loosing understanding of modern western concepts such as corporate stores?  Everything just seemed foriegn when I saw 50 cash registers beeping at the same time in the massive warehouse like store.

We drooled and oogled in a different massive store, Win-Co...a Sack and Save type grocery store with dirty cheap prices (which equalled us buying lots of food for our daily Snack Attack(s)).

The trip was simple but so enjoyable, as was the evening which brought leftovers, baby goat time, movie watching, and Terry time.

DAY 53 - Mission Sarong

The day we arrived at Terry the trailer's front stoop, went inside, and unpacked our belongings, Ishmael had taken out the one hour photos he had developed at Albertson's.  He took one picture and put it above the non-working fridge as a decoration, to make it a bit more homey in the inside.

(From the night hike on the Aquaduct - back row: Salty Dog, Furniture, Rally; middle row: Yellowbird, Caveman, Bojangles', Me; front row: Ishmael's forehead)

Every morning while the eggs were frying I would glace at the photo.  This morning was no different, all the faces seemed to say something, because it was from real film.  This item was as close as I could get to saying good morning to Bird and Caveman and Salty Dog (Jen, Emory, and Jordan).  I looked at the photo, hoping that they would know I was thinking about them.  I hoped they had something that would remind them of me.  I was 100% confident in my choice to come to the goat farm, but that didn't take away from the fact that it felt strange to not be hiking with them.  After I came out of the haze of memories from the hike thus far I went to the field to put in a good half day of work which was followed by a field trip with Bill.

Right after our night hike on the Aquaduct Ishmael had accidently left his precious Hawaiian flag/sarong wrapped on a Joshua tree in the desert.  It was nearly a week later but Ishmael had connections to that piece of cloth, so we went out to find it.  The farm happens to be mere miles away from the trail, and after just a bit of following it with the astro van we were on the LA Aquaduct road.  We drove to the scene of the crime, and Ishmael came back a happy man.

(still on the joshua tree after many nights and days of wind!)

As we drove back towards the farm Bill suddenly stopped the van, threw it in reverse, and backed up along the dirt road we were driving on.

"See that Red Racer?!" Bill exclaimed.  "Boy those suckers move fast.  Wanna see?"

Bill hoped out of the van and strode right up to the snake.  I wasn't too worried for him considering this was not a deadly snake, and besides Bill had been bitten on three, I think, different occassions by a rattlesnake, and he had handled that, even being allergic to the anti-venom.

The snake struck at Bill a couple times before quickly slithering right off the trail.  Bill gingerly had dodged all the striking by looking like he almost didn't care, moving his feet back in small but wise steps.

"I told you, them suckers are as fast as a mother!" Bill exclaimed upon getting back to the van.

Desert adventures, all day, every day, on and off the farm with Bill and Sheree!

(Baby goat picture of the day...little buckets of precious!)