Some Things You Only See When You Don't Have a Camera

Turning a corner and descending into a rural valley hidden in a sea of suburbs, the walker noticed that the road lacked painted stripes; it was as though he was walking through the Cobb County of forty years ago when many of its roads were rural, stripeless, and often unpaved. It was the day before Independence Day, and the flags and bunting were popping up like March daffodils. The depression of a stream paralleled the road on the other side of the narrow valley. Long, winding driveways led from the road, across the stream and up the side of the valley where homes nestled among the trees. The relentless barking of a dog drew the walker's attention. Two men stood under the trees in a small clearing near the intersection of the stream and a driveway. At first, it seemed that the dog was tied to a tree between the two men. Then it became clear that the dog was penned up near the house, but was very interested in whatever was tied up to the tree. One of the men seemed to be carrying a long stick as though it were a gun. The fettered animal turned to reveal the silhouette of a goat, and the man turned to reveal the silhouette of a man with a rifle. The goat continued turning as the man angled to get in the killing shot. With one motion the man expertly lifted the rifle and fired one shot. The sound was surprisingly quiet. The dull thump in the back of its head buckled the goat's knees as it collapsed in slow motion. It did not move again, and the dog went nearly insane with glee and frustration behind his fence.

The walker blinked, surprised at the scene that he had just witnessed and coming slowly to the realization that surely the carcass was being specially prepared for the next day's July 4 celebration. He chastised himself that his first reaction had been to wish he had a phone so that he could call emergency services. He wondered what the police signal for "goat-down" was. As he ascended the road out of the valley of death, he tried to picture this scene in one of the new neighborhoods of nearly identical million dollar homes only a few blocks away. The neighborhood association would have been down on the amateur butchers with the police and a court order before the barrel of the rifle had cooled. The two men would have been cited with disturbing the peace, discharging a firearm, unlicensed animal husbandry, first-degree goaticide, and exposing the brutal realities of life and death to those who would rather not think about it.

The walker entered his front door strangely pleased that close by, a goat would be slowly roasting over a fire at a large, hopefully raucous assembly on Independence Day.


Peace
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