Baby goat Lulu stands on top of Tree’s sawed off trunk. (Photo courtesy Katherine Dunn)
Everyone was crying. Even old Poetry, the most stoic member of the goat herd, had misty eyes.
“She had a long, long life. This was my favorite spot to nap, every day,” said Poetry.
“Why did you let it happen, Mrs. Dunn? Why?” said little Hannah the goat. “She was my friend.”
“She was my friend too, and all of us loved her, but she was dying. She’d been ill for years and we had to help her,” I said.
We were talking of the beautiful old maple tree that sat near the goat barn. She was over 150 years old. The tree trimmer had come the day before to take her down. Her beautiful leaves gave us both beauty in the autumn, but also sweet treats for the goats to eat when they fell. And her wide canopy provided shade on hot days.
But in recent years, her old truck – some 4 feet across – had split, and one by one the large branches were beginning to die and fall, some damaging sheds. Every winter storm, we held our breaths.
Earnest the pig wandered over. “Come everyone, let’s all gather here and celebrate our friend.” All the goats hopped up on the large stumps that had been left.
“One lesson you must all hold onto is that Tree’s presence was important to us, and we’ll be reminded of this every day because of how much we feel her absence,” said the pig. “We sit here today in the hot sun, instead of relaxing in the same spot in the shade that she had given us daily. We will miss her in so many ways.”
“I liked to sit under her after a big snowstorm. Her branches held the snow and it was like being in a snow fort!” said little Pancakes.
“Her arms just couldn’t hold the snow anymore, Pancakes. Her branches were weak, and they could have fallen and hurt you, or even killed you,” I said.
Hannah ran screaming to the barn.
“Couldn’t she have worn those red suspenders like the old farmer down the road wears? They keep his pants up!” asked Pickles.
“I’m afraid not,” I said. “Believe me, I put this off for years. But her trunk had become rotten and it was only a matter of time before she’d collapse. I had to do what was best for everyone’s safety.”
“She’s still giving to us,” said Earnest the pig. Many of her branches were made into wood chips to keep our beds dry. Her big branches will keep fires burning in the house. Her stump is still a home for our chipmunk friends.”
And suddenly, little Lulu the baby goat came flying by, and leapt onto Tree’s sawed off trunk. “I’m on a magic flying carpet!”
Everyone wandered back to the barn, except old Poetry, who stood alone by Tree’s trunk, and whispered, “My dear old friend, thank you.”
(Katherine Dunn, of Apifera Farm in Bremen, is an artist and writer. Apifera, a nonprofit, takes in elderly and special-needs animals and shares them with elder people. Learn more at katherinedunn.us.)
