Goats - In Hollywood and on the Farm

Today - a bit about my Hollywood neighborhood and also the first neighborhood of my life.   First about the goats I saw last weekend...

Nearly every Sunday morning we go down the hill from our house to a farmer's market - two blocks running north and south on Ivar and two blocks running east and west on Selma are closed to vehicles.  Our grocery list last week included:  fresh mixed greens, baby beets, Satsuma tangerines, baby leeks, tomatoes and fresh mussels from a Carlsbad aqua farm.  Besides the produce stands there are several that sell cheese.  And last Sunday next to one of the stands that sells goat cheese - they also brought along two baby goats.

The black goat in the top photo was 3 days old last Sunday.

Now about my first neighborhood, the farm.  Our small farm was in Harris, Minnesota about 40 miles north of Minneapolis.  As far as animals went we had cows and a dog that herded the cows.  Plus a bunch of cats and before I came along there were some pigs.  But for a short time we also had goats.  The story goes that my sisters wanted a goat - one goat - but my dad being a softy and probably wanting to keep peace with his step daughters went to a neighboring farm and brought home three goats, one for each of my sisters.  Here's the only photo I know of with these goats.   My mom looks like she's having fun but she's probably worried that one of the goats will eat my scarf.

How many who moved to Silver Bay came from farms?  Besides me, I would guess many of my classmates did, too. Leaving the small family farm and moving to industry was the trend.  Doing a spot of research and reading the graph as best I can,  I estimate that in Minnesota alone the number of farms between 1945 and 1955 dropped from 200,000 to 170,00.  Regarding that, for now I will only reflect that kids who moved to Silver Bay in its beginning years lived the move from agricultural to industrial America.  And then, when Reserve closed - we saw the change from industrial to service economy.

Although I lived on a farm for less than 5 years, I think it definitely influenced my life.  Maybe it's the reason I like fresh produce.  Maybe it's the reason that I had to take a picture of the goats last Sunday with the camera on my phone. Or, maybe I took the photo because I love goat cheese.