Of all the things we saw during our trip to Sitka, Alaska, this celery-crunching goat is perhaps the most paradoxical “wild” animal. We had gone to a place to see brown bear that had been captured rather than be destroyed. (Their mother did have to be destroyed). Next to the bear compound was a kind of a children’s zoo with all sorts of animals that don’t necessarily symbolize rugged Alaska. But he’s a photogenic goat, isn’t he?

In his face and well-worn horns there is an interesting mix of curiosity and menace. Now that I think of it, as a classroom teacher for over thirty years, I’ve seen that same look in my students. Fortunately, students don’t have horns.