By Terri Smith —
Photo: Lisa Bland. To watch a video of the Seedy Saturday performance go to:
www.youtube.com/watch?>
“When you lose your heart, there’s no turning back. Everything’s changed I promise you that…”
In case you missed it, those lines are part of the chorus to the song LeRae Haynes wrote about Amadeus and which she sang along with the women’s ukulele group and the Angel Keys children’s choir at Seedy Saturday in May. She wrote the song over a year ago now and has sung it with countless children and adults, including a ukulele group in Hawaii while she was on vacation earlier this year. It’s an incredibly catchy tune, and those first few lines of the chorus never fail to bring a tear to my eye.
I don’t know how she managed to capture the feeling of what it’s been like to be Amadeus’ surrogate mother in a few simple lines, but she has. From the time I first rescued him my life changed. I know many of you must think I am absolutely ridiculous; and you would be absolutely right. However, ridiculous or not, to love another being unconditionally, be it a human, a dog, a goat (or any other little creature), is always a positive thing. I did lose my heart to this little guy but I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one.
At Seedy Saturday, Amadeus made his first public appearance in a year. As he has grown and become healthier and stronger, he has also become less grumpy, which means he is less inclined to greet people with his head. This is a definite asset when bringing a goat out in public! I also realized once again that he loves his stardom. When I brought him over to the truck that morning, he was noticeably excited and happily leapt into the back seat (he’s a bit big to fit in the front seat these days). When we arrived in the park and the children began to arrive to have their photos taken with him, he happily lay down and just ate up all the petting and the handfuls of sunflower seeds. From the time that he was three days old and first came to town with me he has brought joy and laughter to so many people of every age (though he does love children best). It makes me so happy to see people’s faces light up when they realize that what they thought was a dog on a leash turns out to be a goat!
“Ask me straight out what floats my boat, I’ll say: ‘Amadeus the Goat!’”
Terri Smith is an organic vegetable farmer in the Cariboo with Road’s End Vegetable Company. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Literature and a diploma in Art.
