This Children’s Day was devoted to Paulie who had arrived Thursday night.
After a simple breakfast, Paul, Paulie and I drove to Neary Lagoon. Last Thursday noon, I happened to see a big batch of goats and sleep chewing away tall grass along the wooden ramp, with the other side already eaten clean. I learned from one of the shepherds that they had been here since Memorial Day, and planned to stay until the following Monday. It’s the first time Paulie saw goats in large numbers with a great variety of coloration. According to our chat with another shepherd, there were a total of 650 goats who were to clean both the Lagoon and Santa Cruz High School.
Once reaching the ramp, Paulie set off well ahead of us. He could not believe the sight, sound and smell of so many goats allat once. He seemed to be more interested in those new friends than his sister the year before. Leni was a little disconcerted by the human-like eyes of goats. There were some maneuverings on the part of shepherds, for a portion of goats had to go to a new site while the rest would stay in the existing site that was pretty much chewed clean. It turned out that the goat team was a victim of its success. They completed their task too quickly and thoroughly. A girl was so sympathetic to the hungry goats that she climbed over the far ramp to grab bunches of grass, with the encouragement of her father. She was generous to a fault by sharing her goods with Paulie, so he could have the opportunity to feed goats himself.
After the goat population was settled and calmed down, we left for the Downtown Library. As planned, we were going to sign Paulie up for his summer reading program. At the library circulation desk, Paul filled in the library card application for Paulie. In a week, he would be a full-fledged member. Afterwards, we went up to the second floor, Children’s section. Paul selected thee Rabbit & Bear books by Julian Gough and Jim Field, while Paulie picked Sea Turtles in the World Book’s Wild Animal kingdom series. They all proved to be well-liked by the whole family.
Paul drove us to our third destination of the day, I.e., the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf. We had our lunch at Riva, our favorite restaurant. While we had our Fish and Chips, and Fishemen’s Platter, Paulie was more keen on coloring his pelican. His choice of tacos was entirely untouched. Paul and I had to save tacos by ignoring our own food. After Riva, we went to visit sea lions, Paulie’s other new friends. He was duly fascinated with puppies and their doting mothers, and aloof fathers on the sun facing ramps.
What a Children’s Day we had! Hope it will make some difference in Paulie’s life.
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