For Christmas last year, Gordon got me goats....and so a dream of decades came true. And so this year, the focal point of the Stewarts was goats. The first 3 months of the year were spent planning housing, building housing, figuring out where they should go, learning what goats do. And then in March Layla, Daisy and Calendula came and joined our herd. And I was in bliss.
What we learned was that all the books in the world can't show you what real life shows you. And so in August our Layla got sick....well she had been sick....but she got sicker and I sat with her, called her "other mamma", prayed, talked to the vet and the heart wrenching decision was made to let her go.
And all this while I was at work....across the water....and I became angry....and our vet came back so I could be with her when her time came to leave us....and I left my car on the other side.
And so at 11 o'clock at night as our sweet mamma lay in her house...well her remains were there....I bawled in the ferry station saying I can't do this any more....We both can't work 60 hours a week and expect our goats to be OK....and so I gave notice and applied to 2 jobs on the Island....one I wanted, one with benefits but at a horrid place.
In the midst of this goat life, other things happened....we started talking about chickens....Gordon ran for "Mister South Whidbey" and the fair came and went, and I won a blue ribbon.....and we found a church home which only has helped us, as a couple and individuals....knowing and trusting in something....someone bigger than yourself only makes for a more peaceful existence.
We spent a long weekend at a lake by Mt. Ranier and our souls were renewed. We sat at the lake with our dogs and did nothing else....Gordon fished, I read....and we just let our souls refill.
I took a job closer to home without the benefits I had grown accustomed to. But I loved it....I love it....and I relish in the fact that I have a 15 minute commute.
Gordon became Mister South Whidbey.....we pressed apples and made hard cider....oh and for the first time in my life my tomatoes ripened....the rest of my garden was horrible....but the tomatoes were beautiful....next year will be better. I had always thought I was a good gardener, it turns out I just had good soil....but you live and learn.
And so....as we come to the end of this amazing year....a year full of goats, dreams, hand made gifts, illness, sadness, joy, victories and clinging to each other as we have fierce conversations about difficult things....I think how we've grown....as a couple....as two people with strong wills and passions and minds of our own. I'm grateful that in the balance of life, we have come out on top....continuing to be grateful for the beauty of our Island, our humble simple home filled with a garden that creates yummy peas and tomatoes and horrid stringy carrots, 2 dogs who enjoy frisbee, beaches, mushroom hunting and sitting on the couch....3 goats (2 still running around) who run and play when we let them out....who follow me everywhere and like to watch Charley catch frisbees and balls as Corky barks and runs.
I'm wiser....better....more in love....and grateful for each and every miracle I shared with my husband on this little hill between a bay and a highway....all kept together by my husband's passion and the restaurant that will always keep us away from each other on New Year's Eve.
Thank you Wabi Sabi Hill.....God....Gordon....Layla....Cali....Daisy.....Corky.....Charley....the Ferry...my Honey Bears for teaching me lessons and giving me so much to be grateful for.
