Tree Goats

Argan trees grow in Morocco, where people eat the trees' fruit and press the seeds for oil (don't tell RFK!).  And where goats climb them to eat the fruit and leaves.  

I know a thing or two about goats.  They'll eat anything.  They can climb anything.  They can herd up to make it through anything.  You can put one in a goatapult and it will cling for dear life, no matter how hard you actuate the device.  But climb a tree?  That's news to me.

It might be news to you too, so here's a video featuring someone channeling her inner Margaret Jo McCullin and herds of rascally goats hoofing it up and down some argan trees.  Starting at 5:47, you can see some goats that have been herded into the equivalent of caprine hell, a Bummingdome if you will, forced to stand in one uncomfortable place for an extended period of time.  As the narrator says, "Those goats standing in one spot are, unfortunately, unhappy goats."

May all the goats in your collective lives be happy goats.

But Wait, There's More

When we last went down my family's genealogical rabbit tree (just go with it, man), we learned that I can count a handful of relatively famous folk as distant relatives. Just this week, I was reminded of a much closer brush with family ties.

My Mom, she of the assiduous documentation of our heritage, texted me a few days ago to say, "Found out today that one of my friends here [in Jacksonville] is related to the Nantucket Coffins. You're related to them thru Granny Russell [my Dad's mother]."

Hey, Cuz!

Coffins, you say? That's a unique surname, and it's one that happens to be the middle name of a FOGTB and fraternity brother. 

When I told my Mom the same, she said, "You're likely cousins many times removed. You go back to two of the sons of Tristram who was one of the first settlers there. One line comes through Jethro who owned what is now the "oldest" house." Don't think the 'Old' reference there didn't resonate with me.

My sister chimed in at this point to say, "We have a Jethro in the family? Damn. I would've named Max Jethro."

I reached out to the FOGTB in question, who responded by saying, "Pretty cool! The Coffin family is also mentioned in Moby Dick. I once had an argument with my high school English teacher because he said the name was symbolism and I argued it was just a common name in Nantucket at the time. Damn English teachers want to see symbolism in everything."

To which I said, "Fucking Pellicane".

And, scene.

TLDR, I'm related to one of my good friends. His side got more height than mine. Bygones. 

Genealogy is pretty neat.