Kelly Gatewood: Military Life

Kelly Gatewood was not a Northerner.  It was plain to everyone in Tucker’s Diner that she was a visitor here.  It was only September but she wore a heavy jacket and gloves, which she kept on until tea was brought to her.  It was not until her breakfast of poached eggs with hollandaise sauce and fresh marbled bread with butter and blueberry jam arrived that she took her jacket off. 

Kelly Gatewood is from Mississippi.  She was born to blueberry farmers who called themselves hillbilly royalty, because of their distant relation to Napoléon Bonaparte.  Kelly only lived on the blueberry farm until she was eight; it was at that time that her father left the National Guard and started his active service in the Army. 

            “I can’t remember exactly how many times he was deployed,” Gatewood said.  “But he did five tours in the Middle East and a few others in Europe.” 

            Gatewood’s experience growing up was vastly different from her peers, whose parents were both physically present. 

            “He would be away for birthdays and holidays and recitals.  He would usually be gone for a year at a time.  We could call him when he was in Europe, but it was more difficult to get in touch with him while he was in the Middle East.”

            With international affairs on an ever changing, often volatile cycle, the military is a focus of the media.  The family members of those in service are also in the spotlight; but there is little to be said for the family relations after a military career is over.  For young adults like Kelly, whose father was away for much of her childhood, his retirement from the Army meant another big adjustment. 

            “I didn’t realize until he was home for good, how regular it had become for him to be away.” 

            Gatewood explained that her relationship with her father was still at the level it had been when she was a child; because he had been away so often, their relationship had not been able to develop. 

            “My relationship with my mom is much different; we are much closer,” Gatewood said.

            Kelly Gatewood’s childhood was one of long separations.  As she begins to navigate her twenties she is faced with the impact of those separations and is required to reevaluate her personal and familial identity.

The Buck Stops Here

            

Whisper (right) with her sister Faith

The buck rag came out today.  I presented it to Whisper gingerly, feeling the oils on my fingers and the stench in my nose.  Whisper was more enthusiastic about it than me.  She wagged her tail (called flagging) and tried to snatch the rag from me.  I pulled it away from her and stuffed it back into the jar, closing the lid tightly.  It was just as I expected, she was in heat.

 I had been watching her since August to see when her cycles would start.  Since I do not keep a buck of my own, my does will only accept bucks every three weeks during the fall months.  It’s important to keep track of their cycles so that you do not miss them.  Goat heat cycles usually only last 24 hours.  If you are planning on breeding you doe, but miss her cycle, you will have to wait to breed her until she comes into heat again.  While this is not catastrophic, it will impact your year, since as it determines when your doe will kid.

            I put the jar with the buck rag back on the shelf and went inside to call Deb.  She owns the stud buck that I am using this year.  I prefer not to keep my own buck for many reasons, not the least of which is that they smell rancid and the small trouble of transporting my doe to the stud far outweighs having to keep and care for another animal that is really only useful a few days of the year.  

            I was lucky to get ahold of Deb.  I had already discussed with her my breeding plans for the year so she was expecting my call, however she spends most of her time in her barns with her goats, and it can be difficult to get her to answer her phone.  She told me to bring Whisper over right away.

            I tried to make the trip to and from the farm as stress free as possible.  I know from experience that great amounts of stress can cause your doe to reject the buck.  Fortunately, that did not happen this time.  The cover was successful and Whisper returned home without any problems.  The hard part starts now, as all hobby farmers will know.  Waiting the five months until kidding feels like waiting an eternity.