The Goat's Grey (A Poor Man's Trademark).

Let this post serve as a trademark.

I have two life goals and they both involve goats.

1) I want to become a gentleman farmer and goatherd. The farm will be called, The Goat's Grey Farm (a name that is derived from Goal #2). As a matter of principle, I only wish to own livestock that I could pick up and run with in a farm-related emergency (e.g. barn fire). Therefore, The Goat's Grey Farm will have chickens, goats, and potbellied pigs. I want to work the land, but only from sunrise until 10:30am, at which time I will sit on the porch and read Robert Frost.

2) I want to open a small bookshop in a cold, rainy climate. The bookshop will be called The Goat's Grey. Understanding this life goal requires some context:

Admittedly, the phrase "The Goat's Grey" is an odd one. It also sounds like I'm trying too hard.

Several years ago I dreamt that I opened a bookstore in the Pacific Northwest (It was a variation of every man's escape dream). The dreamy shopfront had a wood burning of an erudite goat. I woke up murmuring the shop name: "The Goats Grey." Of course, I was just beginning to experience the greying of my own beard at the time, so this tale may be intertwined with an old man's ennui.

After a good round of sleepy babble, I grabbed paper from the printer and sketched what I saw in the dream. I even went to the computer to type out the font I saw on the sign. I placed the papers in a notebook, placed the notebook on a shelf, and went about my day. The images have stuck with me over the years.

We have moved several times since then, so I assumed that the papers were lost. Recently, however, as I was rearranging my books I came across the notebook. It still contained the images born of a fever dream.

As I am now in my late 40s with a wonderful career in classical Christian education, I see that my life goals are now metaphorical. The goals, and the images in the dream, have now come to signify for me a storehouse of ideas. As I live a life of reading and listening, I find that I am obsessed with at least 5 ideas:

Ready Curiosity

Humor

Literature

Intellectual Honesty

Good Taste

If nothing else, this blog is a stand-in for that little farm and that little bookstore (although I have not completely given up on either). These 5 ideas dot the landscape and permeate the collection.

God has created a world of wonders that are held together in Christ. As an educator and a writer, I want to encourage fascination with all of those wonders, especially in literature, in nature, and in music. I think these disciplines are potential expressions of worship that are as varied as they are unified.