This Year
There’s about an hour left of the year. Outside the laughter of children and the explosions of what I can only assume is the beginning stages of nuclear war. We shall see who survives to laugh the morrow!
Had a nice dinner with the family. They had pork, I had rice porridge. Oh the joys of vegetarianism! Haha. It was good, though. And I guess I should pat myself on the back for staying strong. Mostly. Also, I’m glad I seem to have made it through christmas and new years without being mugged or burglarized. Assuming those kids are laughing at the fireworks, not at their plans to break down my door…
As is tradition, I shall now copy/paste my Facebook post about 2013. I don’t think I have much to add, other than HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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It’s been quite a year. I have had some big ups and some big downs. I guess I’ll start with the bad first. Losing two goat friends. Bob and Tiny. Both very tragic. Bob, my special boy. Son of Magnethe who we lost last year. The last of the bloodline from when I started going to the playground. He meant so much to me. And having him torn away so suddenly and violently without warning was very hard to accept. No goodbyes. Just guilt and pain. And then Tiny. I didn’t get to know him very well of course. We didn’t get really close, we didn’t have the time. But it’s always sad when babies die. And the way it happened. Holding him in my arms as he passed. After trying mouth-to-mouth and everything. It was pretty traumatic.
The constant pain of it has passed but it still stabs whenever I think of them. It would be impossible to say this has been a good year with the loss of them in mind.
But there have been good things. Very good things. From the goat front, of course, there’s Palle. The little wonderboy. The way he came, as such a surprise. One day I had Mia standing on my back, literally two days later she was a mother. And we were so worried because she was so young and Palle was so little. But she turned out to be a great mother and Palle turned out to be a strong and happy, little guy. So curious and trusting and just perfectly goat. I’m so happy we got to keep him. There was Large and Medium too, of course. Or Bob and Lucy as they are now called. It was sad having to say goodbye to them too. But knowing they live on in a good place makes it so much easier. And we had a lot of fun together. As I had fun with the other goats. Mia, of course. I’m closer to her than ever. Maybe the closest I’ve even been with a goat. She is amazing and my love for her knows no bounds. And her Facebook page has brought me much happiness too. Got me in contact with nice people and given me chances to talk about her, with people from the playground too. It’s been a really good thing. And her mama Mio. The ferocious cuddlebug. While the other goats usually come looking for treats, Mio just walks over and stands against me. Waiting to be cuddled. And she can seemingly enjoy being scratched and stroked forever. She never seems to get tired of it. I’ve gotten a lot closer with Kamel too. It took a while to get that connection because she was pretty shy at first and stayed mostly away from the others. But working with her I think has helped her confidence. Just having her come asking for treats or “shaking hands” to get her hooves scratched is very sweet. She’s such a calm and sweet thing, impossible not to love. Yup. They all make me very happy and I feel lucky that I have them to spend time with. My four rays of sunshine when skies are grey.
On the home front, this summer was pretty great. Hard, hard work on the exercise bike. Along with strict diet and vegetarianism. It might not sound like fun, but it was. And it paid off. With the loss of some 40 pounds and the reversal of diabetes. I am proud of it. It felt great. I never thought I’d be able to get quite so far. I am less proud of the unhealthy holiday season I’m having! But I have big plans for next summer. I will get slimmer than ever and I am quite confident that I can do it. It will be hard and good and I’m looking forward to it. Once the sun comes back in full force, I will get back to kicking ass.
It’s been a pretty mild winter. Only one weekend of snow so far. Rarely below zero temperatures. But it’s still super cold for me with my bad circulation. I am thankful for my space heater. It’s a heatmax model and I have named it Heatmax ‘Max’ Huxtable. Because that’s how I roll. The heatmax, the crosstrainer and the tomatoes. Three of the great things I have found this year. I don’t know how I ever did without them.
I have found some really nice people on Facebook too. Many of them through Mia’s page. I am still a little, lonely boy inside. But it gets better and better. And I am thankful for the friends I have and the support I get. From friends and family. From the people at the playground. Bodil and her dog Sif. I am lucky in many ways. I hope 2014 will be good. For everyone I know. For me I’d like it to be a lot like 2013, just without the goat tragedies. If I could have that then I would have a lot. I know 2013 wasn’t good for some of my friends, thoug. I hope things will get better for them. Without suffering there can be no happy ending. I hope we will all get our happy endings, and that they will be long and drawn out. The happy end is the beginning is the happy end.
Now why dont I shut up!
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See you next year, folks!