Noah’s Ark

The other day my girls and I brought some animals to the Fall Harvest Festival so Ithaca city kids could see what farm animals look, feel and sound like. We loaded up one goat, one ewe (with four horns,) two ducks and three bantam chickens onto the truck. My oldest daughter Marie caught and loaded up the Jacob ewe, Athena, while my youngest daughter Rosemary and Rosemary’s friend Devon (with middle daughter Sarajane’s help catching) caught and loaded up the two ducks and three chickens onto the truck, while I loaded up the goat doe, Aryla. We all loaded in except Sarajane to head to town. We had an uneventful ride in, and unloading was a challenge because the ewe did not want to go backwards out of her crate. Marie ended up dragging her out, and her leg got caught in the bottom of the crate, but she got her untangled from that. Once unloaded, everyone loved seeing the animals and petting the goat and sheep. One little boy, who was probably around eighteen months old, called the goat a “dog.” When it was time to load the animals back up, we put the ewe in backwards to make it easier to get her out. We headed up Route 96 out of town, and all of the sudden we heard a loud “pop.” I said”What was that!” It almost sounded like something hit us but I couldn’t see anything. I then started to see steam coming out of the hood so I pulled over to the side of the road and turned the truck off. The girls and I piled out, watching the steam pouring out, and the girls were worried that if it was on fire, the animals would burn up. I told them to just wait and see. The girls weren’t happy with my answer. Then I called Triple A, who said they could only take 2 riders. So, I tried to think who I knew that had a vehicle that could get the animals and some of the girls home. I called my friend Lorraine, and asked her if she could possibly come pick up two of the girls, one goat, one sheep, and a crate of ducks and chicks. She said she was picking up her son and then would go home and get her truck and be there in a half hour. So we unloaded the animals to be ready for the various directions we were going. I then called my husband and told him to pick me up in Ithaca where the truck was being towed. All the while, traffic is pouring by, and once the animals were out, they were rubber necking to see the animals. The tow truck arrived with two guys, so I called my friend to ask if she had room for 3 girls and not just two and she said they will be squished but she could do that. So I left the three girls, one goat, one sheep, and a crateful of poultry on the side of the road, while I went in the tow truck. When I finally arrived home, the girls and animals were all back in place. Thank goodness for friends with trucks and only light rain!