The Goat Farm Part Three (final part)

DAY 56 - Just Another Day on The Farm

After putting in our work hours, weeding and transplanting, we went back to Terry the trailer for a little R&R.




(Laughing and enjoying the afternoon)

Whilst sitting upon the green leather cushions on Terry's couch/bench I saw a slithery something out of the corner of my eye.

"Ooooh!" I yelled, as I realized it was a snake poking through. But I quickly realized Bill was on the other side of the window feeding the little reptile into the trailer.

I actually love snakes, but I'd been a bit jumpy and nervous about them since the desert. Everyone we ran into kept warning us of the dreaded Mojave Green Rattlesnake. A rattlesnake that was worse than a diamond back, for the mojave green had two different kinds of toxin in its venom...making survivability slim. Bojangles called it the "call your mom" snake, because if you got bit, calling would be the only way to say goodbye.

The snake through the window, however, was not a mojave green, just a friendly little buddy, so I took it from Bill and played with it for a moment before passing it on to Furniture.




(furniture holding the snake)

The day was simple but relaxing.

DAY 57 - A Visitor

It was Saturday, and I was excited. Not because it was the weekend, we still worked, but because the farm was not terribly far from LA. So, Safia had decided to come visit for the day!

As I was pulling weeds I heard Hershey and Princess start barking. I went to the gate and saw Safia's mid 90's red mustang (without power locks) pull up to the chain link gate.

After a brief tour and an introduction to Bill, Sheree, and Lacey, Safia helped me pull weeds and move an old truck bed alongside the guys.

Once work was finished we pulled out all the bars of soap for Safia to smell, for she intended to do a bit of shopping.




(Sheree's soap!)




(furniture, rally, and lacy in the living room along with the soap)

Once the purchases were made, like vagabonds the four of us asked Safia to take us to the grocery store. Of course she agreed and we all squeezed in.




(in the mustang)




(Safia givin' some sass! rally peaking around Safia's head)

Safia had to leave in the late afternoon but offered to take me back to LA for "game night" at Gillian's (she offered to also bring me back to the farm bright and early the next morning). I was tempted, but I was worried about how depressed I got last time I left LA, when I didn't want to get back on the trail. I didn't think I would feel that way again, but I didn't want to risk it. Plus my time at the goat farm was coming to a close, and I wanted to spend my time there.

But this was for real the last time I would probably see Safia for awhile. I was leaving places with some semblance of familiarity and heading towards greater unknowns. Once I left the desert I would walk to Kennedy Meadows, the gateway to the Sierras, a place that had been long talked about, but that had always seemed so distant, almost unachievable. Still, I felt that if I got there, I could make it all the way.

I hugged Safia, sent 3.5 pounds worth of backpack weight with her (no more water pump, clorox drops instead, and various other items were relinquished as well) said goodbye and watched her roll along the dusty road into the distance.

Dinner was amazing and we all ate by the fire pit, a delicious Sheree prepared dinner.

DAY 58 - Last day on the farm

We made our last duck egg breakfast in the morning and prefaced everything we did that day by saying, "this is the last time we'll [insert action] on the farm."

The guys finished up work outside while Sheree and I talked photography. We went over Photoshop and camera functions together so that she could enhance the look of her website. I had been doing so much learning as of late both backpacking and on the farm so it was a strange feeling, to use already exsisting knowledge and training.

Afterwards just us girls went into town for photoshoot supplies and a bite of lunch.

We got back to the house and played around with our newly purchased backgrounds while Bill started to create goat milk ice cream to go with our dinner for that night.

I got online and ordered a new backpack and new cookware. I had spent the past two days picking the brains of the boys figuring out how to drop more weight. The 5.5 pound drop at the Anderson's had helped me greatly, so I was determined to get more and more weight off. I didn't have the money for new equipment, but I found some good deals, and I decided that I could return my other backpack to REI (return everything immediately) if need be...and become one of "those" cheap thru-hikers. But I had paid my co-op membership fee, and I was desperate to make myself less miserable.

Supper time rolled around and we all filled our plates for our last dinner on the farm. The menu consisted of cornbread, potato wedges, salad, and FRIED MOJAVE GREEN RATTLESNAKE.




(fried mojave green)

Normally I don't eat meat, but I couldn't pass up a chance to take a bite of the dreaded snake that Bill had just happened to kill the week before we came.

While eating a deadly snake was fun, the highlight of the evening was the goat milk ice cream. A light and creamy delicious concoction, not too soft, not too hard...perfect!

Then we said goodnight and headed back to Terry for our last night of blissful rest at the farm.

The farm experience had been just as much of an adventure as being on the trail. I got to milk a goat, work hard, listen to Bill's stories, become good friends with the guys, sample scents with Sheree, and just live modestly.

One of the things that struck me most while at the farm was something Sheree had said on the first night. She had been talking about how much the valley had changed since they had been there, the suburbs were pushing closer and closer to them. "We've already decided that when we can't see the stars at night anymore we're going to move. But that's okay I've gotten to live my dream!"

So many people dream of money, power, prestige. Sheree was living a beautiful and content life on the farm with her husband and daughter, and that was her dream. It was like a breath of fresh air, that she was achieving her dream and that it didn't have to do with drinking Dom Perignon every night as the valet parked their Lamborghini. Certainly she wants her business to propsper, but not to take over the world like Wal-Mart.

I enjoy being a positive person, but I find myself looking at the human race with extreme cynicism quite often. We are all human, we all make mistakes, and everyone is greedy for something... but on the trail I have seen a side of people that is so generous and loving. There are people who want nothing in return, there are people that share their homes and lives with you out of the kindness of their hearts, complete strangers can be more generous than imaginable, and there are still people with humble dreams.



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