Yes, we inaugurated an African American President today and for the second time; and yes, I teared up over it. History was made again and I got to listen to most of it on NPR, and the web is alive with commentary. But grab your favorite adult beverage, relax and let me tell you about *my* day. It's going to take a minute. There is a lovely visit with family, a flat tire on I85 and loose goats running around a little too close to a major thoroughfare. There are also strong, handsome knights, but no car chases or explosions, thank goodness.
From the beginning: I had a great visit with my mother this weekend. She spent the weekend at the farm with me (Joan is away at a conference, and I took time off so I wouldn't have to stress about whether I would be home in time to secure the animals before sundown; also to spend time with my mother.) This afternoon I drove her back to Columbus. On the drive down we got to listen to the Presidential inauguration. Since both of us are fans, that worked out well.
Once we got to Columbus, we stopped at my niece and nephew-in-law's (do you say nephew-in-law or just nephew?) where my sister and her husband were also visiting, with my 10 month old grand-nephew being the main attraction. That's not true really, we all had a fantastic conversation, maybe several fantastic conversations. We have wildly different political leanings in some respects, but important beliefs in common in others. Mainly, we all love each other very much. But we talked about politics, a subject I've always avoided, without bringing up our disagreements, and focusing instead on our common truths and our strengths as family. Kind of allegorical for a time when politics is becoming so divisive, and compromise has become a dirty word, but I digress.
I stayed a little longer than I'd planned since I had to get home before dark to take care of the birds and goats. But it was such a wonderful visit, and there was enough time. I took my mother to her apartment and headed home, watching the clock and thinking, "I'm doing great. I'll have plenty of time."
There were pieces of tire in the road and a larger piece of what looked like it might be rubber tire, but might be something else. I ran over it because I had no choice. There were cars in the lanes on both sides of me by the time I saw it. Flat tire. I was able to maneuver past a truck and across three lanes with the flat tire and get to the shoulder. But the shoulder of a highway is no place to try to change a tire. A few yards ahead was an overpass with a concrete pad under it, so I started the car back up and eased forward to pull off the shoulder and farther away from the highway traffic. I got out the spare tire and the jack and started jacking up the car. I know how to do this. I've done it before, but never on the side of a highway with 18 wheelers rushing by. And never before has the car jumped off the jack. Now what. I didn't cry, but it wouldn't have been the first time I cried over a flat tire. That's another story.
I got back in the car and looked at my phone. I didn't know if we had towing insurance or not and if we did, with whom? Do I call 911? I tried to call a friend and got no answer. Five minutes before the flat, Joan had sent me a text to let me know she was about to introduce a speaker. No calling her, even if just for moral support. But I'd just left my sister and brother-in-law, and he is definitely the knight in shining armor type. They were heading home to South Carolina some time after I left my niece's apartment. If they are way ahead of me, I don't want them to turn back; but I just need someone to tell me to take a deep breathe and what to do next. So I called my sister. They were two exits behind me on the same highway. Damn, I'm lucky. I waited for them to come to my rescue, feeling a little guilty about the fact that I wasn't changing my own tire. He even thought to check the manual to make sure he knew where the jack placement should be! He changed the tire in no time while my sister (did I mention that she's my baby sister, well my baby sister who's a grandma now) distracted me with conversation and reassurances and helped me relax. I was on my way, and I got home before dark with a few minutes to spare. Tomorrow I would get a new tire.
But I did mention knights, plural. When I got home our neighbor's truck was parked on the drive to the front section of our property, an area we haven't done much with so far. He has been clearing a fence row for us so we can hire a fence guy to create an area the goats can eat their way through. They've long since cleared out the poison ivy, and everything else, in the area we'd fenced off for them months ago. We wanted to get a professional fence builder because this side of the property fronts a major roadway that connects lots of very fast-moving vehicles to three highways (55 mile-an-hour speed limit on a two lane road!). We don't want to take any chances that the goats can get out on that side, so we're not doing it ourselves.
Turns out the fence that is already on that side of their pen is none too secure. We kinda knew that, but so far they'd shown no interest in getting out on that side. But since the neighbor and his son were working over there, the goats were interested. As I got home, my wonderful neighbors had just gotten all three goats back in the fence and were waiting to see if I was coming home so the goats wouldn't get out again (after much chasing of goats around a field that is way too close to the major road, and not wanting to explain to us how a goat got hit by a car while they were working there). They'd called me, but I missed it. They waited there for me to collect the materials needed to repair the section of fence (and to pee), and then did most of the repairs themselves. We walked along the fence to talk about the clearing he was doing in the next couple of days and discovered two more fence posts that need replacing, sections that would be just as easy for the goats to "just walk over" as he described the escape. Tomorrow I have to repair that section of fence first thing. The tire will have to wait.
Now it's getting dark and none of the animals are secured (I can't help it. I worry about things like coyotes.), and my dogs still haven't been out since I got home. I dash to the house, let the dogs out and grab some food to lure the goats into their shed and lock them in, hoping they won't get too cranky before I get back to milk and finish feeding them. Take the dogs back in the house, hoping they've had enough time for now, grab my milking stuff and flashlight, herd the ducks into the chicken coop (they're always the last ones in and, of course, tonight they gave me the most difficulty I've ever had getting them in to stay) and shut it up, counting to make sure all are in and safe. Yes, a sigh of relief. Back up the hill to the goat shed I go to milk Daisy, finish feeding them all and secure them for the night. Everything went fine until I'd finished milking and feeding. I have a little ritual where I go to each goat to pet her or him and say good night, but Daisy wouldn't let me touch her, all of a sudden. She's had a little too much excitement today (I can relate) so I'm hoping she'll be over it tomorrow after a good night's sleep.
Back down to the house to feed the dogs and let them out again, this time at a more relaxed pace so they can take care of all business. In between all of this I'm exchanging texts with my brother-in-law and sister to let them know I'm home safe and what drama I've come home to. I finally got to talk to my wife after taking care of the goats to let her know what happened and that I'm safe, the car is fine and the animals are all secure. Now a glass of wine, my supper in the oven and a deep breathe so I can share my story with you.
Oh yeah, I sent my neighbor a text to answer a question he'd had about placement of the fence row, and he answered saying "Ok. Thanks and have a good knight." I'm assuming that was a typo, but I was tempted to text him back and say something like, "based on the day I've just had, I'd say there is more than one good knight in my life." I hope you have a good knight as well.
