I sit here a changed person.
Not even five minutes ago, I stood in the backyard of the farm I live at. Technically it's an urban farm on a tenth of an acre, but I digress.
We have ten chickens, three ducks (Two of which are laying possibly fertile eggs, so ducklings may be on the way.), and now four goats. Our Nigerian Dwarf just gave birth to two frakkin' adorable female kids.
From the beginning I intentionally kept my distance.
See, I'm the guy that kills stuff. A duck and eleven rabbits to date. Some of you may realize how odd it feels to be able to write that. You will also understand why the moment I saw those two adorable little shits, I shut down. I shut the fuck down.
I can't even go into pet stores.
I knew I had to keep my detachment. Who knew what the future held for these two? Sold? Kept? Processed? Processed by me?
Could I even do that?
Before today I would have said yes. Now... I honestly can't answer that question. The entire reason we have the goats is for one reason. Milk. Now that the goat (Pebbles, just FYI. And her kids are Easter and Lilly. I call Lilly Le Leche, because her coloring makes her face look like she is a little Luchadore.) is producing said white gold, we had to separate her from the kids. For about twenty-four hours now we have been trying to bottle-feed the girls. A-a-a-a-and the stubborn little shits weren't having it.
Until tonight. For the first time the little ones ate. Not just an ounce or two, but a good meal. An I-can-feel-it-in-their-bellies good. And I was part of it. I have processed animals, and now I am part of helping new life to survive. While Brandi held the girls on her lap (First Lilly, aka the stubbornest little bugger, then Easter, and Lilly again for a second helping WOOT WOOT!) I ran my hand down their chests and could feel them calming under my hand.
So, I tried to keep my distance, but, yeah... kinda fucked that one up. It finally dawned on me yesterday just how much work these little ones were going to be, and I knew that there was no way I could do what I needed to do and retain that distance. So, from their first feeding I was there, helping to get them used to my scent.
Tonight under the light of a head-lamp and a three cell Maglite (A big torch for my UK hommies.) I helped ease the anxiety of two babies so they could eat. And eat they did. Because as Weird Al once wrote...
Girls just wanna have luuuuuunch
Holy crap once they got going, the littles started chugging it like first year university students.
Write what you know is one of the most contested bits of writing advice. I think the best understanding of it came from author Chuck Wendig. For the sake of brevity I will sum up, but I highly recommend you read it.
Write what you know is really not meant to be taken literally. Joss Whedon does not know what its like to a teenage-girl, vampire slayer. Jim Butcher does not know what it's like to be a wizard private detective (Or so he would like us to believe.). So the obvious idea is to know more things aka go O-U-T and learn shit. Experience thing, live life. Participate as 'Perks' so succinctly put it.
Watching Easter and Lilly feed was one of the most beautiful moments of my life. I never would have experienced that hiding in my room. Get out. Get up, get out of your room and do things. It's a damn sight better than staring at the walls going insane. Seeing something like that is healing in a way I have no words to describe.
I can't wait to start writing.
Speaking of which...
Not even five minutes ago, I stood in the backyard of the farm I live at. Technically it's an urban farm on a tenth of an acre, but I digress.
We have ten chickens, three ducks (Two of which are laying possibly fertile eggs, so ducklings may be on the way.), and now four goats. Our Nigerian Dwarf just gave birth to two frakkin' adorable female kids.
From the beginning I intentionally kept my distance.
See, I'm the guy that kills stuff. A duck and eleven rabbits to date. Some of you may realize how odd it feels to be able to write that. You will also understand why the moment I saw those two adorable little shits, I shut down. I shut the fuck down.
I can't even go into pet stores.
I knew I had to keep my detachment. Who knew what the future held for these two? Sold? Kept? Processed? Processed by me?
Could I even do that?
Before today I would have said yes. Now... I honestly can't answer that question. The entire reason we have the goats is for one reason. Milk. Now that the goat (Pebbles, just FYI. And her kids are Easter and Lilly. I call Lilly Le Leche, because her coloring makes her face look like she is a little Luchadore.) is producing said white gold, we had to separate her from the kids. For about twenty-four hours now we have been trying to bottle-feed the girls. A-a-a-a-and the stubborn little shits weren't having it.
Until tonight. For the first time the little ones ate. Not just an ounce or two, but a good meal. An I-can-feel-it-in-their-bellies good. And I was part of it. I have processed animals, and now I am part of helping new life to survive. While Brandi held the girls on her lap (First Lilly, aka the stubbornest little bugger, then Easter, and Lilly again for a second helping WOOT WOOT!) I ran my hand down their chests and could feel them calming under my hand.
So, I tried to keep my distance, but, yeah... kinda fucked that one up. It finally dawned on me yesterday just how much work these little ones were going to be, and I knew that there was no way I could do what I needed to do and retain that distance. So, from their first feeding I was there, helping to get them used to my scent.
Tonight under the light of a head-lamp and a three cell Maglite (A big torch for my UK hommies.) I helped ease the anxiety of two babies so they could eat. And eat they did. Because as Weird Al once wrote...
Girls just wanna have luuuuuunch
Holy crap once they got going, the littles started chugging it like first year university students.
Write what you know is one of the most contested bits of writing advice. I think the best understanding of it came from author Chuck Wendig. For the sake of brevity I will sum up, but I highly recommend you read it.
Write what you know is really not meant to be taken literally. Joss Whedon does not know what its like to a teenage-girl, vampire slayer. Jim Butcher does not know what it's like to be a wizard private detective (Or so he would like us to believe.). So the obvious idea is to know more things aka go O-U-T and learn shit. Experience thing, live life. Participate as 'Perks' so succinctly put it.
Watching Easter and Lilly feed was one of the most beautiful moments of my life. I never would have experienced that hiding in my room. Get out. Get up, get out of your room and do things. It's a damn sight better than staring at the walls going insane. Seeing something like that is healing in a way I have no words to describe.
I can't wait to start writing.
Speaking of which...
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