My goat’s name is Trevor. Yes, we now have three goats and we are a real farm. All we need are some pigs and sheep. Our chickens lay eggs each morning (or maybe in the evening). And even though they do not lay fried eggs we eat very well.

But the goats. The grandchildren wanted baby goats and one afternoon three baby goats landed in the barnyard. When they came, two black and white and one brown and white, they were so small that they could run under the horse Frankie’s legs. Actually, they ran everywhere and when the kids went jogging the goats followed in their trail. In fact, one day when I was walking home from the barns, the brown and white goat followed me and nibbled at my pants leg. This goat was Trevor and he should have been eating weeds instead of nibbling on the hem of my pants! But goats will be goats!

Now the goats are grown and we are seeking adoptive parents. If anyone is interested please let me know. However, when they were young and cute everybody wanted to go and feed the goats. The grandchildren had promised to feed the goats and they were very diligent in their obligation.

Like all babies, the goats were fed a formula purchased from the neighborhood feed store. However, the bottle that held the formula (mixed at the farm) was an empty bottle of Grey Goose Vodka. Our family was forced to consume an inordinate amount of vodka, beginning at breakfast, so we would have a receptacle for the goats’ formula! We attached a nipple to the bottle and, I believe, when the goats reach legal drinking age they will only drink Grey Goose Vodka! I am still waiting for someone who will join me in a Scotch. Trevor has refused.

When I watched them guzzle I realized the container was unimportant. The true nourishment was from the formula within. Thus it is in these turbulent times. We do not judge life by the externals. Instead we judge life by what is happening within each one of us. That is where our soul really lies and where the elixir of life may be found. It is never the bottle but rather what the bottle contains.

This is the wisdom of Trevor, a rather tipsy goat!

Sheltering