"It's like Lenin said..."

Today's plans to begin repairing the existing fence had to be postponed. Instead, we used extra wood to construct a makeshift ark in anticipation of the remainder of this Biblical rain storm.

While I'm trapped indoors, I might as well give you the low down on the backyard:

• Creek: The backyard is split into two sections by a small creek. The water level rarely exceeds ankle-deep; however, it's probably kayakable as I write. The stream bed this trickle runs down has severely eroded banks - probably from rainstorms like today's.
• Bridge: The 8-foot chasm is traversable by means of two bridges, one on either side of the yard. The goats will be free to roam around both banks, as both sides have plenty of weeds in need of munching. Because one bridge is accessible from the porch, it's likely that one bridge will be reserved for Homo sapiens, and the other for Capra hircus.
• Garden: The Little Garden That Could is still holding on by a thread in a small patch along the creek. There's a few scraggly tomatoes and half a dozen or so pepper plants left, so the goats will have to be kept separate.
• Materials: Between several personal collections and a ecelectic trove of abandoned materials under the deck, we have the following available to us for construction and maintenance purposes:

1. Hammer and nails
2. Rusty old saw
3. Duct tape
4. Pile of 4" x 8' lumber rescued from a friend's fraternity dumpster
5. (18) cinder blocks from last year's pig roasting pit
6. Shovel and rake
7. Unknown amount of pre-loved chicken wire fencing
8. (3) 4' x 8' sections of recyclable plywood signage used in one of Nate's Free Palestine rallies
9. Several old 1- and 2-gallon plastic plant buckets

• Budget: Ideally, other than the initial cost of the goats, this entire adventure won't require any additional funding. If it does, expect "Goat Money" to show up on my Christmas wish list. We should be able to get by, though, until birthday and holiday cash starts rolling in. Having said that, there will probably be plenty of unpredictable expenditures. Having said that, it's important to stress my frugality. I'm not above liberating materials from UGA construction sites. Besides, their 2-6 am concrete pouring schedules are entirely incompatible with my sleep routine. And you could classify this as personal revenge for President Adam's decision to decline Athens' bid for hosting a 2018 World Cup match. Really, Mike? That's a no brainer, dude.

The weatherman's predicting rain everyday for the foreseeable future, so getting this thing off the ground is proving harder than I thought. I want to see a goat already.