I never thought that I would be writing about goats! And I never expected to be living so close to a herd of them. But then, this is Mexico.
Have you ever had the opportunity to watch a herd over a period of time? If so, you will understand why I have become so enthralled with the view from my window.
My house perches on the side of a cliff and below is a valley with streams, greenery, trees, a goat herder’s hut and the fascinating bunch of goats. The goats have been living down there for almost a year. At first I was taken aback by their presence but gradually I have become quite attached to having them there.
Looking down through the trees I see a white washed small cabin with red tiled roof and an enclosed front porch. At first I thought that the goat herder lived in the cabin but apparently not; I think it is used for storage. The goats are herded onto the front porch at night and they huddle there together giving each other warmth during the cold and rainy months and finding protection from any night predator. Each morning the goat herder arrives to let the small herd out and they spend the day foraging for food among the wealth of plants that thrive in the valley. It has been said that goats are one of the most destructive of animals due to their grazing habits. They not only eat anything in sight they also often pull the plants up root and all. However, in this instance there does not seem to be enough of them to cause major damage. Instead, I believe that they help to keep the rampant growth in check and that may be one of the purposes for their being here in the first place. This spring the herd increased in size with the arrival of several babies who provided me endless fun in watching them as they gamboled about. One day three puppies appeared also and it amazes me that they became part of the herd! They play with the baby goats. Now that they are grown, they do not alarm the herd as they run in and out of the groups of goats.

I noticed the other day that the goats were still on the front porch rather late in the day. The established pattern has been that the goat herder arrives always wearing a bright red shirt followed by the now almost grown puppies. A parade ensues: the red shirt leads the puppies who are followed by a long single file of goats. But on this day they had not yet been let out to pasture. As I continued to watch, I saw that the herd was anxious and several were pacing in front of the exit. Then one of them was trying to climb over the wood gate that covered the entrance to the porch. I did not expect him to succeed but he kept at it and finally found himself free on the other side. The rest of the goats obviously wanted out also but it took awhile for them to muster up the courage to follow their leader in climbing over the gate. Eventually some of them exited over the side banisters also. But once outside, they continued to be nervous. Most of them remained rooted to the spot where they had landed. This was not the way that they usually were let out and they seemed confused to not be following the goat herder and the three dogs. In all it took about 15 minutes for the whole herd, young ones and all, to become accustomed to the freedom that they had won.

This led me to reflect on ourselves and how often we become used to a certain way of doing something and find it very difficult to change. In this case, the end result was the same but the manner of achieving the result differed. Sometimes when I find myself stuck on or hesitant about something I remember the goats and decide to forge ahead without the comfort provided by any status quo. There is usually more than one right way to achieve a goal and all we need to do is to let go and explore new pathways. Try it sometime!

Sometimes we can find lessons in the strangest of places. In this article the goats give a lesson in managing change.