Mountain goat ewe Mt Evans Colorado   click to enlarge

She arrived suddenly one spring bringing nothing but her fur coat and her pale skinned beauty. She was aloof, always remaining at the edge of the herd, saying nothing and rebuffing all who tried to approach. Grazing alone she would wander the meadows stopping occasionally to select the newest petals of the spring flowers, looking always to the North, watching, searching, waiting, not anxiously, but with a constancy that could be felt. She was a mystery to the herd. They wondered about the mantle of sadness she seemed to wear and speculated quietly amongst themselves about her origins. Who was she ? Why was she here? Who did she wait for?

Some thought that she had come down from the far reaches of the Canadian north, Kootenay, Nahanni or even the Kluane perhaps. Others thought that she left the Russian mountains and followed the Kuskokwim river down until she eventually arrived here. That might account for her look of weariness. Right now it was all speculation however as she wasn’t speaking and maintained her solitude. They’d leave her alone for now. They had their own lives to live and if it was her wish to stay near the herd for whatever comfort she could gain they were willing to allow her to stay. There was time, you can’t stay alone forever.