"You have succeeded in life when all you really want is all you really need." - Vernon Howard

The "New Post" tab disappeared from my side of this blog a couple of days ago and just reappeared as randomly as it went away. So now I have too much to write without making this way too long. What follows qualifies as snippets of thoughts that could be more developed.
(You're feeling lucky, aren't you!)

I dislike the whole "karma" thing. Bogus. But worth discussing: is this a moral universe? That is, apart from direct action by God to bless or curse, is there built into the order of things (has God built into the order of things) a dynamic whereby the righteous prosper and the wicked suffer? If so it is certainly NOT a fixed and certain thing, as Job testified. But as a general principle....?

In their second week of life AJ gained 5.8 lbs and Burrito went up 5.1 lbs, both healthy gains. They were both up 4 lbs. the first week, so the increased rate of gain is especially positive. We're in this for the meat, so more of it sooner is better.
Asante and Itzhak were lucky to put on 4 lbs. per week for the first three months, but they were on bottles and had scours until they were weaned.
Having kids raised by their momma is so easy it feels like cheating after what we did last time.

I'm following Wimbledon and the Tour de France, both of which are providing drama and excitement. Federer is into the finals and that makes me happy. And to watch a guy do today's stage of the Tour with a broken elbow and a broken hand makes me feel ashamed of how hard I work to talk myself into the day's run jog.

Meanwhile, Tim Tebow is rockin' baseball in Florida. The Mets moved him from Single A to a league that's between that and Double A. He's got an 11-game hitting streak going and a walk-off home run to win yesterday's game. Go Tim!

Tuesday we got a halter for sheep/goats and I've been working to get Itzhak to walk on the lead. I wear my tool belt with a nail pocket full of grain (candy). I walk/drag him a few steps, give him some grain, and repeat. He's still struggling, but getting better slowly. He's definitely NOT a fan of the halter and Stella bellows the entire time I have him out of the pen because her BFF is missing.
Note: this doesn't bode well for her adjustment when he goes permanently MIA.
I wouldn't argue that it seems something akin to ... unkind? ... to train him to a halter so he'll walk passively to his slaughter. But I've read several places that an animal struggling at slaughter releases adrenalin into their system and that affects the taste of the meat. That's another reason for doing it as humanely as possible, never mind the general principle of kindness to God's creation.
Once Itzhak is trained I'll start on Stella so she can be led for things like hoof trimming at the table, breeding, etc.

This morning Pam picked 11 pounds of blueberries at Marta's because her bushes were overloaded and they'd go to waste. Mmmmm.

I finished that journal article. I need to proof it and then put it in the requested format before sending it off. It's not as long as their requested range of 4,000 to 6,000 words for a full article. According to my Pages count it comes in at 2,737 words. I don't think I can cut it down to the 2,000 word max for a "brief note," so I've sent them an email asking how they want me to proceed (or not). I'm OK with whatever; the effort was worthwhile, especially because it very close to what I need for the next section of the book. I can rework this and use it for that. So it's all good.

It's been in the mid-80's all afternoon, too hot for physical labor outdoors. Yes, I've gone soft. So I worked on that article and some misc. stuff inside. I still feel like I wasted the day.
Now it's time to feed the goats and then some dinner. Maybe some blueberries for dessert?