A Mad Dash for Pears

We have on our farm a beautiful old pear tree that has the most delicious cooking pears that you could ever imagine.  Each year as soon as they start to fall the goats go into "crazy" mode and will stand under the tree eating the fallen pears that are so unripe they make my mouth pucker just thinking about it.  They will eat and froth at the mouth until the ground under the pear tree is picked clean.  As fall starts to approach I sample the pears every few days waiting for them to hit the "just right" stage.  Friday seemed to be the day that hit that magic moment.  Since I sell soap at the farmers market on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, I had to wait for today.  As I took Xio to school this morning I made a mental note to pick the fallen pears up BEFORE letting the goats out to graze.  Since my mind is easily distracted I, of course, forgot my well laid plans and upon returning from the school drop-off drove by the pasture gate and released the goats.  It took a mili-second for me to remember the pears as they all flew out of the pasture and across the front yard with a singular purpose of PEARS! I went running as fast as I could in my (now dew wet) Birkenstocks - a feat not easily done - and arrived at the tree just after the goats. 

It took them no time at all to pick up the pears and take a bite out of as many as they could - almost as if marking the "once bitten" ones as their property.  I joined in the "festivities" picking up and stuffing my t-shirt with as many pears as I could.  I dove left and right among the goats even grabbing a few right out of their mouths!  I think I must have been one bizarre sight and I think I even saw a few goats back up in fright from my maddened "grab-for-the-gold" attempts.  I finally decided that I had enough pears for dinner tonight and would try again tomorrow to get the pears before the goats do.  Maybe I'll put a big post-it note on my windshield to remind me!

Even now as I write this the goats are all laying in the sun under the pecan tree, bellies packed full and chewing their pear cuds.  A few have already nodded off, perhaps dreaming of tomorrow's juicy pear breakfast - perhaps I'll leave just a few for them tomorrow.