The eclipse called, so I went further south to spend a couple of days in Raymond with my friends Brent and Kathy. We had a great time. Not in the totality zone, but closer to it than Seattle, we had hiked up a steep small mountain, in the woods, friends together, quietly meditating and doing Buddhist practice–all what I was hoping for–except for the surprise visit of a herd of a dozen goats! who rambled over our little encampment, nibbling and taking bites out of anything they could put their lips around! This included my hair, one shoe, Brent’s sacred text, books, and water bottles. One even took a bite out of a foam sitting pad. It was quite, quite funny. We scrambled to try to gather things up, but when one went off, another two would come to investigate something else.

The gentle goatherd, the owner of the property, a friend of Brent and Kathy’s, kept chatting amiably with Brent. Finally Kathy gave a hint that maybe they could all move on (well, in a very diplomatic way), so the three of us could once again sit down and watch the ongoing eclipse…which they did. He set out, calling them, and they happily kept up. They were beautiful animals, and i loved seeing and brushing up against them, while yanking things out of mouths and telling them to move off!

A whimsical convergence of sacred moment and goats. With the right lens, all arisings have sacred, even humorous, potential.