2. Describe how Jennifer and David’s relationship changed after discovering their financial situation. How did they recover? How did their relationship grow over the course of the book?
3. Why do you think Jennifer decided to take a teaching job out of state? What did that time away from the cabin and her husband teach her?
4. Jennifer feels a deep connection to her Appalachian roots and her ancestors who also lived off the land. How does that influence impact her daily life, even after her grandmother dies?
5. Being an educator while also living in the cabin, Jennifer sees the merits of both a formal education and a cultural education, where information is passed down from one generation to the next. How does she benefit from both of these? How do you benefit from both in your own life?
6. Why do you think David adjusts so much more easily to life at the cabin than Jennifer?
7. Imagine you and a spouse, family member, or friend must make this move. Who do you think would have a better time adjusting? What challenges would the two of you face?
8. Throughout Flat Broke with Two Goats, cooking seems to be an outlet to help Jennifer process her family’s new situation. What sort of influence does cooking or food have in your own life? Your family’s life? What recipe from the book are you most eager to try?
9. Why do you think Jennifer and David decide to get goats even though neither of them have any prior experience raising farm animals? How did this decision change their marriage?
10. How does Jennifer come to terms with her own mistakes throughout the book? Do you think acknowledging these hard truths changed her character?
11. After reading about Jennifer’s goat antics, what do you think would be the best part of goat raising? What part would be the most difficult for you?
12. Jennifer finds that eating food she has grown or raised herself is a more rewarding experience. Have you ever felt this way? Describe a time that you have used something that you have either raised or created with your own two hands. What was that like?
13. From dealing with mice, snakes, and even the stray possum, Jennifer realizes that uninvited wildlife is unavoidable when you’re living close to the land. If you were in Jennifer’s shoes, how would you react to these unwanted houseguests? Is there an animal that you would be unable to deal with?
14. Jennifer and David name all of their animals, including their chickens. How does this reflect on the relationship they have with their animals? How would you define the difference between farm animals and pets?
15. After reading Flat Broke with Two Goats, what do you think would be the most appealing aspect of living off the land? What would be the most unappealing?
16. Overall, do you think moving to the cabin was a good move for Jennifer and her family? Why or why not?
A Conversation with the Author
When did you start writing Flat Broke with Two Goats?
I have always known I wanted to write some of my family stories, and I have been writing those in different ways for a long time. However, I really didn’t begin to envision this particular book in this particular way until our home was foreclosed about five years ago. That incident was really the impetus for this book.
Are you and your husband still living in the cabin?
Yes.
Do you ever think you will move again?
Yes. Since we are renting our home, and this cabin is on land that has long been in someone else’s family, I don’t think staying here permanently will even be an option. However, we do plan to stay within this area, and when it’s time for us to move, we will definitely look for another place where we enjoy the same sort of simple, close-to-nature lifestyle we enjoy now.
How many animals do you have now?
We have four dogs, a cat, and ten goats. We also still have chickens—somewhere around fifteen, but that number is constantly changing.
Let’s talk about your goats, who, throughout the memoir, have some very distinct personalities. Do you have a favorite goat?
I love all our goats, but I would have to say that Willow is my favorite—though her doeling, Merlene, is a close second. Willow is just so gentle and intuitive, and she has these amazing, soulful eyes. I also think the fact that I was her de facto mom/herdmate for those weeks when she was young really helped solidify our bond. From what I understand, though, most La Manchas have sweet, easygoing temperaments, and I would love to eventually add a few more to our herd.
Does David have a favorite?
David has a strong sense of fairmindedness, so he would never admit out loud that he has a favorite, but he certainly does tend to give Ama a lot of extra attention!
Any new goat stories to share?
Well, we have had some challenges trying to get the girls pregnant this year. Waylon, our Saanen buck, has been impotent since his surgery, and when we tried to mate Willow with Merle again this fall, he was, despite considerable enthusiasm, unable to…ummm…complete the task. So it looks like we may have to find a couple of younger, more robust bucks to “service our girls” next fall. In the meantime, we are using milk and cheese that I froze last season. Anyone have an adorable, amorous Nigerian or Saanen buck for sale or lease?
What was the hardest adjustment you had to make when you moved to the cabin?
I suppose the hardest thing was adjusting to living in such close proximity to so many critters—venomous snakes, especially. And this may sound rather trivial, but the other hard thing has been not having a hot water heater. I never realized before how lucky I was to be able to hop in a hot shower with no advance planning. It has been a good lesson for me, though—to realize that many things I used to take for granted are really luxuries and to think about how many people in the world do not have those luxuries. That sort of awareness is good for the soul, and I truly do appreciate a hot shower now!
What was the easiest?
The easiest transition for me was giving up television. Our lives are just so much quieter and more peaceful, and it seems like I get so much more done when I don’t have the option of sitting down and flipping through channels. Sometimes I feel a little left out of discussions about the latest hot television show, but this is a small price to pay for having so much extra time and space to read or write or just carry on a conversation with my husband.
We get to hear a lot about the uninvited wildlife who show up on your doorstep (or in your house, as it were). What is the worst experience you’ve had with an animal in the cabin?
Here in western North Carolina, we have two kind of venomous snakes—copperheads and rattlesnakes—and of those two, copperheads are the lesser of two evils. Still, a copperhead could easily kill one of our pets or make us very ill, and so that first copperhead we found inside the house terrified me. By the time we found the second copperhead, though, I was in a better frame of mind in general, so I was able to handle it a bit better.
The other animals we worry about—not for our safety but for the safety of our livestock—are coyotes and black bears. We have not yet seen a black bear on our property, but we know they are close by, and we have seen and heard plenty of evidence of coyotes. During the last kidding season, one of our across-the-way neighbors had a pack of coyotes crawl through a culvert into his goat pasture one night. His guard dogs killed the coyotes one by one and stacked up their bodies, so when he walked out to the pasture the next morning, he found a pile of dead coyotes! So stories like that are a bit alarming, especially since we don’t have an official guard dog. However, our Lab, Hester, seems to have taken it upon herself to fulfill that role. Every night, after the goats are in the barn, she stands outside and repeatedly barks this really odd high-pitched bark. She does that for hours until we make her come inside for the night.
During this time, what did you learn about yourself that surprised you the most?
Oh, wow. I have learned so, so many things—practical th
ings like that you should probably have a job that pays a living wage, and you should probably pay closer attention to your finances—as well as intangible things. My life before revolved around doing what I thought I should do or what I believed other people thought I should do, and I was so busy doing those things, I never really understood what I wanted. I didn’t stop consider other possibilities or to listen to those parts of me that longed for a simpler life, for some deeper connection to the people I loved. So I think I have made some progress toward figuring out how to do that, how to create a life that is meaningful with the people I love.
Cooking is a major theme throughout Flat Broke with Two Goats. Do you have a favorite recipe right now?
I have recently gone back to teaching, and between that and writing, I have been so busy that I have kept my meal preparation fairly simple lately. Now, I often make a big batch of soup on Saturday or Sunday, and we eat that for days. Fortunately, neither of us minds having taco soup for three or four nights in a row!
What does your writing process look like?
I tend to approach writing like I approach most things in my life—in a fairly disjointed way without much of a plan! In general, I tend to draft a lot of material fairly quickly and then go back and edit and revise. Structure is always the hardest part for me (both in writing and in life), so when I know what I want to say, I sometimes ask someone I trust to help me assess whether my structure is working. Right now, for example, I am working on a collection of vignettes, and though I love the freedom and flexibility of writing in this form, I also find it challenging to organize all the various pieces. Lately, I have been turning to other authors who use the similar styles and techniques to see how they approach structure and how they have made coherent wholes out of seemingly disparate pieces.
What books or authors are your favorite?
There are so many books and authors I admire, but right now, Maggie Nelson’s Bluets is at the top of my list. I just think it is so bold and beautiful and brilliant. I also really admire Cheryl Strayed (Wild) because she writes with such lovely, brutal honesty about her struggles and imperfections. I also love Jo Ann Beard’s The Boys of My Youth and Marion Winik’s First Comes Love. These women all tackle tough personal experiences with a frankness I tremendously admire. They are not afraid to go to hard places emotionally, and yet somehow in telling their stories, they elevate those painful experiences.
What do you want readers to take away from your story?
One of my closest friends has ovarian cancer, and I have often heard her speak of the “gift” of cancer. What she means is that the cancer, as horrific as it is, has deepened her relationships and sharpened her sense of what is important in her life. My financial crisis was not equivalent to a prolonged battle with a devastating form of cancer. However, our financial calamity forced me to reexamine my values and beliefs in a way I might never have done otherwise. If our home had never been foreclosed or the IRS had not come knocking on our doors, I would probably still be floundering around in the illusion of my upper-middle-class life. So I think that’s the takeaway—or at least, I hope it is. I hope people walk away from my story knowing that they, too, have the power to reimagine their lives.
Acknowledgments
When I try to pinpoint the moment I began writing this book, I find it akin to trying to name the exact moment when I first knew I loved dogs or ice cream or the scent of lavender. I don’t remember ever not liking those things. Likewise, I can’t ever remember a time when I wasn’t writing something, something that eventually led me to the words on these pages. This makes it ridiculously difficult to narrow down the list of those people who have helped me along my journey to the publication of this book. Nonetheless, I will try.
Many thanks to my agent, Suzy Evans, for fervently believing in my book from the get-go, for countless insights throughout this process and the willingness to ask me all the tough questions in all the nicest ways. Thanks also to all the wonderful, talented people at Sourcebooks but especially my editors, Anna Michels and Margaret Johnston, for their enthusiasm for this project and for their astute and gentle guidance along the way. Thanks also to the editors of PANK, SalonZine, Blue Mesa Review, Mason’s Road, and Lumina who first published portions of this story in other forms. I am also immensely grateful to my mentors at Vermont College of Fine Arts—Connie May Fowler, Jacquelyn Mitchard, Robert Vivian, and Sue William Silverman. They taught me to believe in the value of truth telling, and without their support and guidance, this book simply would not be.
I also owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to my friends who put up with all my crazy talk about writing a book about goats—especially Susan, whose love of quirkiness reaches a sort of reverence and who has never failed to make me laugh out loud while also making me think; Frannie, whose breathtaking storytelling continually emboldens me; Karen, who has served me food for the body and for the soul; Margaret, who has not yet given up trying to teach me to take things “little by little” and to “bend with the wind”; and April, whose grace, humor, wisdom, and courage inspire me daily. Though I have no blood sister, you are all sisters of my heart. Many, many thanks also go to Tommy Hays, one of my great heroes, both in writing and in life. Tommy, you were the first person to really believe in my work and one of my greatest champions along the way. I am forever grateful for your kindness and generosity.
Last, but certainly not least, I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to my family, including my parents, who passed on to me their love of animals and nature and who supported me even when this whole idea of writing a book seemed a little far-fetched. I am also grateful for the love and support of my brother, Robert. Though you do not make an extended appearance in this book, you and Rodrigo appear in my life, where it counts.
For far too many reasons to name here, I am also unceasingly grateful for my three children. Your warm and funny and giving spirits fill me daily and make me know I have, indeed, done something right. You are the reasons any of this matters at all. And finally, I am profoundly grateful for my husband, whose name is not actually David but whose resourcefulness and tenacity and steadfastness have carried us this far. I love you more than Ama does—which is to say, an awful lot.
About the Author
Photo © Avery McGaha
Jennifer McGaha lives with her husband and menagerie of animals in the North Carolina mountains. She holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and her work has appeared in the Huffington Post, the Good Men Project, PANK, the Chronicle of Higher Education, Baltimore Fishbowl, Your Impossible Voice, the Brooklyner, Switchback, Little Patuxent Review, Lumina, and dozens of other magazines and journals. When she is not milking a goat or whipping up a batch of soap, she enjoys biking and hiking the trails and back roads of her native Appalachia.
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Flat Broke with Two Goats Page 27
