Between a couple of really busy workweeks and a quick trip to visit family at the other end of the state, we’ve been a little out of the Walk-and-Read loop lately. I don’t mean we haven’t walked – we just haven’t had much dedicated walking-for-exercise-while-listening-to-a-book time. We’ve been walking with destinations in mind.
So I was more than ready for another park outing when I read in the News Sentinel that the city, encouraged by Keep Knoxville Beautiful, had hired a herd of goats to chomp down the kudzu at Fort Dickerson. And KKB was sponsoring a “Meet the Goats” event Thursday evening. Of course, Amelia and I were so there.
It was a longer drive up to the park than I remembered from my last visit, four or five years ago, but as we rounded that final bend, we could see the goats out in full force, along with people watching and photographing them. Side note: Goats, which have three stomachs, have a super-fast metabolism and may graze up to 20 hours a day. If I had a goat’s metabolism, I would not be struggling with my weight. Then again, it would be much harder to find cute shoes.
My original plan called for us to see the goats and then drive to a nearby park where we always enjoy walking. Fort Dickerson, a Union-built Civil War earth fortification high above South Knoxville, has walking paths, but they’re unpaved and uneven, and I was not sure how our stroller (and CD player) would handle them.
However, the heavy air and distant thunder made me think we might not make it anywhere else before the rain. So we loaded Curious George and set out to walk the main path where the fort was.
We walked the circular path inside the old fort, dotted with markers and cannons, then walked a longer path around the outside. Small hills made pushing the stroller a bit more of a workout than walking along a paved track, as we typically do. It also made it hard for me to hear Hans Augusto Rey and Margret Rey’s original Curious George story, though I found the jazzy background music soothing.
Amelia, however, had no trouble following the initial adventures of the impish little monkey, and by the time George was off the ship and on his way to the zoo, we had rounded the last corner and had the clearing in sight. I restarted the 14-minute CD track for another go-round.
That’s when the skies opened up, and the goats migrated, en masse, to their dry trailer.
We took shelter at a large octagonal pavilion named in honor of Lindsey Young, where a lone nanny goat – Whitey – nibbled greenery as she waited to accommodate people who wanted to pet a goat. Hoping to get another 10 minutes of walking in, I started pacing the perimeter of the pavilion, while Amelia re-listened to Curious George.
Then, who should amble up but Whitey? She expressed a keen interest in Amelia’s book. Alas, it turned out she only wanted to eat it.
I enjoyed introducing Amelia to the original Curious George, a book that was a particular favorite of my young brother. Next, we’ll read Curious George Goes to the Hospital. I remember being fascinated as a child by the idea that George drank barium and then had an X-ray that showed the puzzle piece he’d eaten inside him. I’m sure it sounds like more fun than it is.
We managed to keep the book from a similar fate, and when the rain let up, we headed for home.
I probably wouldn’t have thought to walk at Fort Dickerson with my child. But on a day when it was alive with people and goats, I found it beautiful and welcoming. And the views are incredible.
No kidding.
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