"Goats are good for you"

says Bekele, an Ethiopian gent whom I met today at Congressional Cemetery. 

Wait! Goats? Cemetery? Yes. Congressional (the oldest of D.C.'s resting places) has a 3-yr long tradition of bringing in 30 some goats to clear out the overgrowth and brush from parts that are not easily accessible. The goats arrived today - with much fanfare and a press conference! - and will remain for two weeks, after which the area to which they are assigned will be clear up to six feet in height. Cool.

So back to Bekele. While he admires the 'ecological mowing', his focus was on eating the goats. "So much better for your health than sheep!" You see, goats eat everything -- all manner of plants and berries. That means that when you eat a goat, you get all sorts of derived health benefits from their varied diet. He went on to describe the process in rather graphic ways, which I'll spare you. "Sheep? bah... (baaaaa?). They just eat grass. Boring and of no use to the system."

More than the ratio of journos and cameras per goat (see extras), Bekele made my day! :)