Goats and Progress

There was another family who had also built a cabin in the middle of the woods. I remember precisely one thing about them. They had goats. You know that feeling when you bite into a piece of soft, creamy goat cheese? You let the pungent flavors soak in on your tongue, closing your eyes as you savor the complex flavor palate…Nope. Not me. Any time I am unfortunate enough to mistake goat cheese for feta and bite into it, you might see me rushing for a bucket or a toilet. All I can taste is an overwhelming flavor of goat. I remember standing around, probably around age 13, watching the kids in the family milk the goats in a barn that smelled like it had been saturated in goat scent. My brother says that he, at least, assisted them in milking the goats. If I had that experience, I thankfully have a mental block because I just recall watching them do it. And the smell. I remember that heady, nasty scent that made you feel like you were choking (BTW, I have since found out that Billy goats pee on themselves, so that could explain a lot). It permeated the barn, the house, the grounds…everything. Basically, try to imagine the taste as a perfume that you can’t get away from. And then they poured glasses of fresh goat milk for each of us…putting it through a dirty strainer that was altogether ineffective because there was still goat hair in our glasses. And it tasted just like it smelled. Like goat urine. To this day, goat milk is not permitted in my house, and goat cheese is only allowed if I particularly like the guest who requested it.

I know that I said I was only going to post every other Wednesday, but what can I say? Sometimes I just want to talk to you. Or talk things out and make you listen? Either way feel free to end on that delightful story and leave, or continue on to read about updates on my website and social media.

First and foremost, in case you didn’t notice, I have completely revamped my website. New look, new theme, new tabs…I would love to know what you think of it. Seriously. I think it is going to be an ongoing process, but at least I feel more professional than I did before.

I have, however, still disobeyed all the rules and actually named the website by my beloved “Idyllwoods” instead of my name. I might still cave on that front…but doesn’t the word Idyllwood  look so much more magical than Jacinta Meredith? I should have made it Idyllwood.com instead of forestidylls.com, though. That, I admit, was a mistake. I might go buy that domain too when I have a little money again. I did purchase jacintameredith.com, though, just in case I’m told I really HAVE to have a website named after me. By the way, what is that about? I mean, photographers, and musicians, and artists all get to have band/studio names? Why aren’t writers allowed to have any name other than their name? This may become a new pet peeve of mine.

I have also ordered business cards (right??), started a new pinterest!!, reluctantly began a Facebook page, and updated my Twitter to reflect my username forestidylls. So many steps last week have, I admit, worn me quite through. But I am truly trying to do this right…while still staying true to who I am rather than who all the writing books/advice say I should be.

Okay, and one more thing I wanted to tell you about, in case you haven’t discovered it, is my new section Graveyard Tales. This is a new idea that I have bandied about in my head a couple of times, and it finally clarified itself a few weeks ago and I decided to go for it. I don’t know about you, but when I walk through a graveyard (as I love to do), I love reading the stones…especially the ones that are falling apart. And I love thinking about who that person might have been and what their lives might have been like. So, this is my attempt to bring a little life back to the graveyard. Every other Wednesday, I will feature a gravestone, tell you a little bit about who it was, and the dates, and then give a little fiction story showing what I imagine a clip of their life might have looked like. I’m truly excited to see how this goes! I even wrote a rough little poem that you can read at the bottom of the page (I’ll probably edit it to have better rhythm at some point).

If you like this idea, by the way, I’d be happy to take guest posts/stories as well!

Anyway. That’s it for now, but next week I’ll tell you about the writer’s conference I am currently at!