Any long-time reader or listener of News-Press storyteller Amy Bennett Williams knows that her rural Alva homestead contains a motley mix of animals including a donkey, geese, horses, ducks, dogs, chickens, cats, and guinea fowl to name a few. Perhaps one of the more unusual residents is a goat named, “Barren,” who has both male and female biological markers.
Like most of the animals who find their way to the Williams’ home, Barren is a rescue and doesn’t provide much in the way of utility beyond companionship and a charismatic personality.
Williams tells us in this week’s encore essay, that although they don’t utilize their animals like a subsistence farmer would, caring for them still provides some important life lessons.
