New Life & Near Death on the 250th 4th of July -2026 -sandra mickanen sharing
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to be sure, we have already sent our giant "Thank You's" for the spectacular evening to our amazing hosts..
we won't soon forget the evening for a variety of obvious reasons.. fellowship, feast, phenomenal view of fireworks around the bay area, from the hot tub, while sipping on champagne and chit chatting with remarkable women friends..
cutting here to what made the evening especially unique:
getting to witness the birth, of not one, not two, but THREE baby goats! write before our very eyes..
-equal parts gross, beautiful, miraculous, mesmerizing.
i was really rooting for her to have an even four; -name them, george, tom, theo, abe.. in honor of the 250th, and mount rushmore national memorial.
playfully selfish of me.. i mean, my goodness.. what it took to deliver the three she did!
it all took place at the neighbors house. we could look into their backyard.. and get an even better view by standing on built in seating in jenny & xaioping's yard
jenny was busy in her home, readying the feast.. she came out briefly.. returned to hostessing responsibilities
fancy nancy and i, we were the most enthralled and distracted by the event.. the men, our husbands, and the high schoolers, -showed some interest.. popped over for a peek now and then,
but fancy nancy and i... we stayed rather planted, made announcements loud enough for jenny to hear in the kitchen,
the most germane thing to share here is this: in the neighbors backyard, there is a fenced in patio; outside that patio, a long, narrow, stretch of flat ground, and then on the other side of that.. an older retaining wall barely separating the flat ground from a very steep hill of dirt, which, at the bottom had lots of, what look like, random pieces of unused stacked lumber; piles of sticks.
momma goat was having her babies, quietly, i might add, on the narrow flat stretch of ground, in between the patio, and steep hill of dirt.
she did not cry out in any way, which i was expecting.. no loud baaas... during labor. quiet.
for the delivery of her first of the three babies, momma goat remained standing; and her baby practically landed on its 4 darling, little, awkwardly positioned feet. and whereas momma was silent; the baby baaa'd pretty quickly. -precious!
how much time passed, not sure..
but, it was obvious there was more to come.. and quietly momma goat walked slowly this way and that, and eventually, she laid down
for me, it was her first sign of pain and exhaustion
then she stood back up, and delivered baby goat number 2..
she looked so swollen and uncomfortable, our momma goat did, blood, placenta..
and how much more time passed, can't be sure..
but, fancy nancy, she ached to provide our momma goat some nutrition..
popped in the kitchen, returned with some bok choy, and did her best to pitch it over the fence in the direction of momma..
first time was a fail of sorts.. there was another goat in the backyard, we could not figure out if it was the papa goat or.. but seemed too disinterested, and then.. no, didn't look male after all.. but was pretty vocal with the baaa's -a sibling?
the bok choy was of only temporary interest to this other goat.. but blocked from reaching momma.
her next throw though..
fancy nancy threw it far enough that momma goat could see it; walk over, and devour.
-very gratifying to witness this nutrition being delivered like a life-raft to our momma goat; still in labor.
the third baby goat.. the smallest.. but that's a very relative term.
how this momma goat was carrying all three to begin with, is a bit of a painful, bewildering thing to consider.
all this time, all this activity..
did not draw the attention of anyone at the actual home where the goats were being born. it appeared no one was home at all. but, i did notice an upstairs window open, a curtain slightly moving in the breeze
how could you miss this? who would leave their window open like that, when they're not home?
two houses over, there was a man watering plants on his deck, who briefly waved in response to my wave, but he did not stay outside to witness the births.
i recognize what's novel and amazing and miraculous to me, to us..
just another day in the life, to others..
but, i could only briefly walk away, fancy nancy too.. we would briefly walk over and visit with others.. enjoyed fresh oysters..
but, i had to, you know.. get back.
when i did.. NO, NO, NO...
the last baby goat, the smallest,
it fell on the other side of the retaining wall, and rolled, down, down, down the dirt hill.
-heartbreaking! to witness
momma goat was already busy simultaneously feeding and fending off her first two babies.
she appeared utterly indifferent to the absence of the third baby goat.
my husband robert, was like, -she doesn't even care..
i was like, she's exhausted! she's too exhausted to see what happened..
go get your baby... i repeated..
and, -watching the tiniest baby goat at the bottom of the dirt hill, try and struggle to get on its four feet.. pull itself up..
you can do it! don't give up -both fancy nancy and i, cheering it on..
but, each time, the tiniest baby goat successfully got back on all four and pulled..
it would fall back down,
and not just fall back down on the hill, in place;
but roll further down the hill itself. a giant set back for every effort.
each roll closer and closer to the pile of menacing sticks.
*****
only briefly did i consider hopping the fence myself to rescue the baby goat.
and briefly it crossed my mind, the people in my family i know.. who wouldn't hesitate. they would already be over the fence..
briefly, i found it interesting.. not one person at this 4th of july gathering felt compelled to hop the fence and rescue the baby goat
-i think (and i am projecting); everyone was surrendered to nature's fate.
i realized, -what if we were not here at all? what would happen if no one was witnessing this..
i found myself surrendered to the idea that not all babies make it, and that's just the way it is.
initially, watching nature shows, i was shocked to hear things like, only 40% of the [animal species here] will reach maturity..
-change the % and the species... i've heard it over and over..
found myself whispering prayers.. could end up the strongest one, if it does make it out of the sticks and back up that hill.
it was an ongoing, real life, drama.. and we would participate in the 4th of july festivities, visit, snack, and then, inevitably return to check on whether the baby goat made progress or had died.
it was so covered in mud by this point, its ooey gooey little self rolling down the dirt hill,
but you could still spot it in the distance.. little white patches.. and hear its baaaa; and delight in the knowledge it was still alive..
and one time when i went to check... i saw a woman in the backyard! someone was home!
i started talking to her, explaining, sharing..
she ignored me. maybe she's deaf... hard of hearing..
i got louder.. waved my arms... -nothing. as if i didn't exist.
i went and shared with fancy nancy, the others.. maybe she doesn't speak english, they suggested.
and fancy nancy and jenny went over -successfully communicated all the circumstances.
apparently, they were renters, not the owners.
it was a husband/wife, and giant "Thank You!" here to fancy nancy, because they did not even know about the 3rd baby goat..
and giant "Thank You!" here to the husband, because.. he did go down that hill and personally rescue that baby goat!
a genuine happy ending. the renters brought all the goats, the momma goat, the three babies, and the other goat, -which they shared was just 1 years old,
they brought them all onto the gated, flat, patio in the backyard of the house. safely away from the hill.
what a relief.
and charming as all get out, to look over the fence.. scan, scan.. until all three cute baby goats could be spotted
each safely exploring the environment -baaa baaaing with their sweet, new little voices..
taking turns finding their momma and feeding...
*****
if this is something you see everyday... or frequently..
****
but, -it was a first for me; likely, a first and only..
****
and i regard it an extra special honor and blessing to witness and experience.
****
as was the whole evening. extra special. -because it was the 250th, there were even more firework shows around the bay area; they were bigger, better, lasted longer..
the evening was clear enough we could see and really enjoy the fireworks in so many different directions. none of us could say for sure,
only guessing,
but, we guessed we could see firework shows going on in the distance at venues like, great america, san jose giants excite park, downtown san jose, shoreline, oakland, san francisco,
pretty remarkable.
and i'll close here with another "Thank You!" to our hosts, Jenny & Xiaoping.. Nancy & Richard, for extending an invitation our way again this year.
what a delicious feast, fantastic time and wonderful memory...
God Bless America. Hallelujah & Amen.
posted by SANDRA MICKANEN @ 11:35 AM
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