Thursday, September 13, 2012

The Bus Stops Here

Well the goats got back from the Fair and it was an unmitigated display of mediocrity with no blue ribbons at all whatsoever anywhere, in fact two goats came in last, and Moony did not even know she was at a Fair she thought she was waiting for a bus.

"A bus to oblivion," said Maddy drily when the defeated and the bedraggled came tumbling out of the back of the truck.

As far as the LaManchas that was a complete disaster and the recorded grades did not do much better and when it came time for the Nigerians, all Clover and Belle Starr could muster was third place. They were in big classes so it might have seemed good except for the fact that when you are standing in third place there are two goats in front of you and that doesn't usually sit very well especially not with those in the Baby Belle family.

Clover is in the Baby Belle family but she didn't care because all she could think about was the milk she wasn't drinking because it was back at home in Betty's udder.

"Third place, eighth place, fifteenth place, who cares. Where is the milk?"

The farmer's friend tried to take a jolly tone as people always do in the face of an unmitigated disaster and she said brightly, "well, third place is good in a big class like that! I would be pleased with that."

"Yes of course," echoed the farmer. "Very pleased. So many lovely goats."

Then the dairy goat show was over as abruptly as it had begun and everyone scurried around packing and loading and before they knew what was happening all the Fair goats were stuffed back into the truck and off they went headed back home and in unison they breathed a big sigh of relief and lay down on the thick carpet of straw.

But while all the other goats snoozed, Belle Starr stood up and gazed out the back window of the canopy. The truck wheeled slowly out of the fairgrounds, parting the sea of humanity clustered around Pete's Barbecue Pit,  nosing gently around the strolling Peruvian marimba band, passing the Kubota tractor display, turning the corner behind the horse arena out toward the service gate.

"As God is my witness," Belle Starr vowed bitterly, " I will never come in third place again."

They got a little further down the road and Moony accidentally woke up.

"Does anyone know when the bus is coming?" asked Moony. "Because we have been waiting a long time."




6 comments :

Marigold said...

Is Belle Star related to Scarlett? Oh, well, tomorrow is anothah day!

Ozarks Goat Girl said...

You make me laugh so hard!

Selkie and Sarabi said...

This is not what we hear. Not at all. Our owner came back from the Fair and it's "Belle Starr" this and "You should have seen Clover" that. And you know the saying about "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing"? She's trying to use words like "deep in the barrel" and "neck blends nicely" and figuring out which of us has "better dairy character". Sheesh. You'd think now that we're pregnant ladies we'd be lounging on silk pillows with a steady supply of Swedish Fish, but no.

Hopefully your farmer will reflect on how big those classes were, and the nice things the judge had to say (so we hear), and will think about having ribbons, and will pass out some celebratory snacks and goodies. Peanuts perhaps. Or a little of the vintage alfalfa.

Anonymous said...

tell the farmer, we have sent something to say thanks, the korean team

Claire MW said...

I was catching up on some blog reading tonight, and was glad to catch up on yours. I missed some really sad stuff, which made me really...well...sad. But I missed a lot of funny stuff too, and I'm always grateful for the laughter I get from reading your blog. I would imagine you would all win blue ribbons here in Nova Scotia, where the fair doesn't even have a goat show. A dreadful state of affairs indeed.

Ozarks Goat Girl said...

Did the bus come for the goat farmer? Because I have been waiting a very long time for another post.