At around ten after ten, a tall, casually dressed lady breezed into the room saying “Please forgive me for being late. I didn’t finish milking my goats until a quarter of ten.” Everyone seemed to understand, and several asked about the health and welfare of her goats. I had never heard of goats as a reasonable explanation for being tardy.
As it turned out, the lady was Patsy Trigg (nee, Patsy Namken). Patsy was a long-time, beloved math teacher at Bastrop High School. Patsy taught for 28 years and retired four years ago.
“I have loved every minute of being a teacher,” Trigg stated. “Being …show more content…
She said she has tried other breeds, but three is too many. “Two is too many breeds,” laughs Trigg. “Boer goats are for meat. Alpines are for milk. Nubians are dual purpose.” Patsy has mostly Alpines with a smattering of Nubians.
As we stood and talked, a small herd of goats came up and began chewing on the hem of my shorts. “This little herd, out of these five, we took two junior champions and two reserves. Pretty exciting for us. That was probably the best show we’ve ever had. I’m bragging right not. Forgive me,” said Patsy.
She took a moment to dispel a common misconception about goat behavior.
“People say that goats eat everything, but they don’t. They test everything. They are really very picky eaters,” said Trigg. “Once they try something that is not their food, they are done with it. They won’t try it again. But they put everything in their mouth to test it.”
The little goat that chewed on my hem is called Tempest. The creature is extraordinarily cute, and was Fort Worth Junior Champion last year and Houston Grand Champion this year. I began to fear that I wouldn’t get away without a goat of my own.
Patsy took some time to speak of her experience and philosophy in regard to local