Cookie and Her Kids

Last year’s quadruplets (all bottle babies because Mocha could not feed them all) grew up. Chocolate Chip suffered a horrible accident (sniff, sniff) and had to be put down, but her twin sister, “Oreo” Cookie, kidded last night! Cookie had a boy and a girl.

Comet, the new little buck, is mottled and spotted (just like the goats Jacob bred in order to increase his herd and distinguish it from his Uncle Laban’s solid-colored goats and sheep. See Genesis 30:25-36). He will be the new breeding buck and hopefully spread a few more of his gorgeous spots to next year’s kid crop.

Why did Kristel name him “Comet”? Well, he was born last night during one of the better viewing times for the January 2023 comet (Comet ZTF). The kids all stayed up until midnight with the telescope, hoping to catch a glimpse of this comet around midnight. Yes. Midnight. I did not stay up. I have seen two comets in my life through my own telescope and they are kind of fuzzy. But it’s nice to say you “saw” the comet of January 2023.

We tried to find it the other night, but then I figured there must be a reason the articles said “midnight” and January 27. Well, yes, midnight is well after the quarter moon sets, and you can’t see anything with any kind of moonglow. The comet was easy to find. Last night it was near the north star (Polaris), and Christian has an app on his phone that shows the outlines of the constellations if you point it to the sky. (ARE. YOU. KIDDING. ME?) I would have sold all I owned to have something like that when I was his age. I was totally in love with all things SPACE. Anyway, I digress.

No way would we see it looking like the above photo. That’s from a big telescope in an observatory (or maybe even the Hubble). Alas, it’s just a fuzzy blur to us earthbound viewers with small devices.

This is why we named the new buck “Comet.” We will always remember his birthdate, that’s for sure! And the little doe is “Midnight” because that’s when they were all still up looking for the Comet.