Lil Dale and the Hair of the Goat

In recounting the "gastronomic odyssey", my traveling partner got the details a bit confused (read Jason's comments on my last post "Sculpting the Blues"). But given the extent of our inebriation during that journey, I am impressed that he would remember anything about the particulars. It is true that our visit to Santa Fe generated some odd "plates of shrimp". That night at El Farol had been magical. When we got back to Michelle's house we stayed up late sharing stories, laughing, and drinking wine. In a forelorn manic way, Michelle told us about her pet goat that she had given away, only days before we had arrived. In all her artistic, beautiful madness, Michelle had decided to take on a goat as a pet. Classic. But in the end after numerous articles of clothing, books, and paintings had been devoured, she had decided a pet goat should be left to the memories of her childhood in Caracas.
It is true that I slept outside that night under the brilliant stars of the New Mexican sky. It is true that all I had was a Navajo blanket woven with patterns that resembled number three's. But up until that frigid evening we had not discussed Dale Earnhardt. The next morning we set out again, hoping to drive straight through to Los Angeles. All three of us, Eric, Jason, and I, were equally hung over. We ended up stopping at a Bob's big Boy on the Navajo reservation. Sitting there, powering through double bacon cheeseburgers, the lads noticed that I was covered in "animal hair". I explained to them, that the blanket I had slept under must have been the goat's blanket. It was only then, in the happenstance of the moment that I recalled an article I had read about the birth of Lil Dale (http://www.courant.com/sfl-73goat.jpg,0,1673519.photo) and the subsequent hysteria that happened along with that miraculous event. Most of my readers might not remember this, but when Dale Earnhardt died it was a major event for Nascar Nation. At that time our country seemed insane and out of control to us, with the invasion of Iraq, Bush's popularity, Nascar seemed to represent the dominant paradigm of the time.

At some point, I had read the article about Lil Dale and it had struck me because 100,000's of Dale Earnhardt fans had pilgrimaged to see that goat. So there, in the Bob's big boy I was describing the coincidence of the blanket's patterns and recounting that story to the boys. At that moment, as Eric looked on, and almost exactly as I finished telling the story, he pointed saying, "You mean that Dale Earnhardt?" Looking to the front entrance, a large Navajo had entered wearing a t-shirt embossed with an image of the Earnhardt and a large "#3". We were all feeling the "hair of the goat"....