Plans

I’m sure you heard the old saying, “If you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plan.”   Looking back, I don’t know why I even bothered. 

In the last few weeks, my life has changed again.  For the first time since 1997, Elaine and I haven’t had any livestock.  This wasn’t the way it was supposed to be.  I had plans. 

In 1997 the plan was to someday finish a construction career, buy a small ranch someday and raise animals (livestock).  I purchased three angora goats for Elaine as the beginning of the plan.   We were living in town, and goats weren’t legal in the city limits at the time which we “fixed’ that problem by renting a corral from the father of a boy who I was coaching on my Little League baseball team.  

I was neck deep in my construction career and this situation worked until our goat herd grew to 33 goats and Elaine added two llamas.

I’m not sure if this was part of the plan, but the goats were sold to a goat rancher from Newcastle, Wyoming, which turned out to be the right decision be Elaine had been buying more llamas.

Elaine had been shopping and found a small ranch she wanted to own to raise our llama herd, now numbering seventeen llamas, not to mention a few alpacas.  This was a good thing because our relationship with the Little League boy’s father had about run its’ course.

I was still traveling and building (in Phoenix) when one morning I received a call from home.  During the previous night our llamas were attacked by the neighbors’ dogs.  To this day, Elaine takes pleasure in talking about when she became Mrs. Daniel Boone and fought off the dogs with a stick.  (Not part of any plan) A house full of guns and she chose a stick.

With help from neighbors, the dogs were chased home where they were “arrested” by sheriff deputies and received capital punishment.  It was time for me to come home.

I altered my construction career to stay closer to home.  As luck would have it, that was the last time dogs attacked the llamas.  I missed my chance to shoot the neighbors dogs.

We took llamas to trade shows, fairs and even a llama race in Fairplay, Colorado, which my favorite llama, Kelly, and I would have won if I didn’t need to turn around three-quarter’s through the race to look for Elaine and her llama, Joe.  If you think I sound a little bitter……you would be right.

All this time, my plan was to talk Elaine into opening a retail yarn store, which took some time, but that part of my plan worked.  Here comes Beervirus and the governor closed our store.  (Didn’t plan for that)

Oh well, Elaine (and Ivy) disliked the store, and the hours needed to run it.  I added yaks to our llama herd and the plan was to raise yaks.  This may surprise you, but yaks can get mean.

I was still involved with construction which left Elaine home discovering how mean yaks can get.  I decided (planned) to build the yak herd when I finally could leave construction.

A couple back surgeries, cataracts and all the yaks were sold.  For the first time since 1997, I cannot look in my pasture and see MY livestock.  I’m not sure how this is going to work.  I hate knitting, reading, watching television.  Cattle are looking better, every day.

When I step outside, I'm not sure I am hearing thunder or God is cracking up.

God Bless, Love ya, don’t make plans

Our crazy lives!

Monner