Ranger: I have a question.
Stormy: Don’t waste your time asking – she won’t answer it.
R: Why not?
S: She’s preoccupied.
R: What do you mean by preoccupied?
S: Thinking of other things.
R: Like what?
S: I don’t know. Perhaps she wonders if the hay she’s eating is nutritious enough.
R: Silly girl, humans don’t eat hay.
S: Well then, they don’t know what they’re missing.
R: Some of them eat meat. I smelled meat on Alys’s sister and Pete for a few days.
S: Yes, and this got the chickens upset.
R: Everything upsets those two.

Ranger and Rover

S: Well, I suppose if I smelled goat on Alys, Pete, or her sister, I would be mortified.
R: What does mortified mean?
S: Upset, mad, irritated, angry, outraged.
R: Do you think the chickens felt that way?
S: Yes, that is until Alys, who does not eat meat, put them in their roost.
R: How come Alys doesn’t eat meat?
S: Because she respects and loves animals.
R: You mean those who don’t respect or love animals eat them?
S: That’s right.
R: You know, me and Rover, Rover he was my buddy, he died a few years ago, were slated to be butchered. This nearly happened the first time when Alys and her neighbor Kirby came and took us home. Then it nearly happened when Alys almost made good on her plan to give us to Kirby. He was going to butcher us.
S: You don’t say.
R: I do say.
S: What happened?
R: Alys realized that both Rover and I were conscious beings that were capable of great love. We proved this to her by running up to her when she called our names.
S: So if I’d had given birth to a male goat, would Pete and Alys have butchered him?
R: I don’t think so. Alys had named him Noah, well-knowing that once an animal is named, it is most likely going to live out its life.
S: Would she and Pete have kept Noah here?
R: They weren’t sure. If you’d had a number of off-spring, they most likely would have spent considerable time attempting to find Noah a good home.
S: Oh.
R: So, though Alys is, as you have said, preoccupied, we do have it pretty good here.
A: Okay. I’ve been listening in. Ranger, what’s your question?
R: How come its so dark here now, for so long?
A: It’s winter.
S: Is it going to remain this way?
A: No. In a few weeks it’ll start to get light again.
S: And so will we ever again see green grass and sunny days?
A: For sure, for sure.
R: I have another question. How come you haven’t been spending much time with us?
A: I apologize for this. I don’t let you out of the pen because I know neither of you like the cold and snow.
S: That’s true, very true.
A: But I am going to spend more time with you both because you are goat, that is the greatest of all time.
R: Promise?
A: Promise.

Next: 334. 12/3/19: A Dang Good Day