Originally appeared in the River News Herald 

I promised you when I began my column, Cruisin With Carol, that I would keep it light. However, I didn’t promise that it wouldn’t be a little “corny” from time to time. 

The funniest things seem to make me happy since settling here in the Delta and I want to share a few of those minutes of happiness with you. 

The other day I had to go to Antioch and run a bunch of errands.  The demands of my day were many and I was just a little stressed. To get back to where I live on the Loop, I need to take Twitchell Island Road off of Highway 160. This levee road winds around farms and ranches and a slough that I have yet to hear the name of.  

The fields there are now freshly planted with vegetation that will eventually show itself but is now just undistinguishable little bits of greenery that dot the rich dark soil that makes this area so wonderfully fit for agriculture. 

I passed a field which was filled with goats of all sizes lazily munching on whatever goods the Earth has to offer. There were a few little “kids” romping and playing just like little human kids. In the corner there stood a single large, very shaggy, brown Llama who seemed to be guarding those goats as if they were his own children. When my grandchildren are with me we often stop and baa at the goats to get their attention. At that point the Llama stands strait and tall and watches us with a very suspicious eye. On this day my grandchildren are not with me so I passed the goats without making a fool of myself. I passed a couple of fields that were filled with cows. Although not as playful as the goats they are worth a moo or two when my grandchildren are with me.  However, once again, I am alone on this day and pass the cows on by.  

The temptation to stop became too great when I came around the curve where Twitchell Island Road and Brannan Island Road meet. There were at least a hundred or more sheep slowly mowing down the tall grasses that were growing alongside the road.  I pulled over, turned off my engine, rolled down my windows, and just sat there listening to the sounds of the ducks quietly quacking in the water to my right and watching the sheep, as they ate, to my left.