The Goats Are Proud Of Their Heritage

While Grandma Lu was thinking of a Christmas story to tell Marlee there was an interesting conversation happening out at the Anderson Family Farm. It was a terrible day. The wind was howling and the temperature was very very cold. There were two goats, Bubbles and Dolly all huddled up together to keep warm. They had found a comfortable yellow tub. It was full of straw that helped to keep them warm too.

Bubbles said, "Do you remember that talent scout that was out here a few weeks ago? " Dolly bleated, "Yes, I sure do. Why?"
"Well, did you notice that none of us goats got any attention at all? All she was interested in were the alpacas. She thought they were so cute. That's all she could say. 'Oh, aren't they just the cutest things? You could be in the movies' and on and on. She didn't say one single thing about how cute we were. She just ignored us, didn't she? Well if she ever comes back I sure hope that one of the Andersons tells her about goats and how famous we are. We are interesting too."

Dolly bleated and said, "Oh just forget it. We know we are special. That's why the Andersons adopted us. They give us head scratches everyday and really good food and shelter. We couldn't ask for anything more. We know that they love us. When we are babies they even give us a bottle if they need to."

About that time Prometheus jumped up on a tree stump. He listened to Dolly and Bubbles for awhile and finally couldn't stand it any longer. "Hey you two! he bleated. I'm just a little goat, but I know a lot about the history of goats. We actually have saved a lot of people. Maybe the whole wide world! Did you know that? A long long time ago there were some of our ancestors that lived in Iceland. They kept those people alive with their wool and milk and meat. That's a really really cold place. And if you have some time to listen, there are some babies that would get really sick if it wasn't for our milk. Some babies are allergic to cows' milk. I think we are cuter anyway. In fact I think that Grandma B's little granddaughter had to drink goats' milk so she wouldn't get sick."

"Well if you don't already know, I have some really famous ancestors I can tell you all about them. They have gone down in history. Even my name is famous. I was a trickster in the ancient Greek Mythology. There are books written about my ancestor. He was a character. He stole fire away from the Greek gods and gave it to humans."

"Hold on there Prom. I'm probably more famous than you are. My name is Smithers. I even have my own family crest in my shelter the Andersons made for me. My ancestors belonged to a Silversmith. They made beautiful things for rich people out of silver. My name when it is shortened up a bit sounds like Smith."

Little Harry was wearing his new sweater to keep warm. He had been listening to all of his friends talk about their famous ancestors. "Well, guys I have famous ancestors too. I have ancestors that have already been in the movies. Walt Disney was a famous man. He started making movies that both children and adults liked. Goats were in some of those movies clear back in the 1930's even. I think that goats have been written in books and poems too. I know for a fact that Prometheus had an ancestor in a Fairy Tale called Billy Goat Gruff. He played a trick on a troll and got across the river without that mean old troll eating him. He was so smart!"

Soon another goat called Frost came ambling up to the group that was bragging about their ancestors. He finally had had enough of his friends telling about what famous families they had. "Well, I happen to know that I have a very very famous ancestor. He lives at the North Pole and helps Santa Claus make all of the children very happy on Christmas Eve or morning. His great great great grandson actually used to live on the Mini Farm with Grandma B. He started head butting Marlee so now he lives with Bella and her brothers with other little goats. He and I are cousins you know. Probably a few times removed....