Above: a goat sketch from my 2007 State Fair Journal. This is not my goat, but I bet my goat is a Nubian as they are a North African breed and will do well in that climate; and they are prized for their rich milk. (Staedtler Pigment liner on a 5 x 7 inch pre-painted 140 lb. hot press watercolor paper.)

I have a goat! I have a goat! I say it over and over and smile ear to ear until I think I might actually explode. Actually the facts are these: my mother gave a goat to a family in Africa in my name.

So I don't really have the goat. But she exists because my mom gave her in my name. The logic of her existence by this route is clear to me: I have a goat! (I know she is female because my mother paid more for a female who could produce offspring and give milk for dairy products.)