About the Author

Sister Mary Elizabeth believes in unique ways of connecting with one’s animals. As she walks from the barn out to the fields, she begins to sing, calling her Cashmere goats in her crystal-clear soprano voice.

“Get Out! Evacuate … NOW!” These are words no one wants to hear. VERT (Veterinary Emergency Response Team) is there to search and gather fleeing dogs, cats, and barnyard animals.

It doesn’t matter if one lives in the Texas Panhandle, along the coast of the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia, Canada, or at the foot of the Andes in Argentina, people want the same for their goats — to be safe and healthy.

Was it fate or serendipity, on a Sunday drive, when a chance meeting presented itself to an American woman in a foreign country?

In Sweden and other Scandinavian countries, there’s a popular goat-like figure made of straw and red ribbon usually found under the tree or nestled among the branches. This is the Julbock, which translates into English as “Yule buck” or “Christmas buck,” a symbol of good tidings and cheer.