We had arranged to meet Sara and Denny Bolton, owners of the Pure Luck Farm and Dairy, at the Westlake Farmer's Market, the largest producer's farm market in Texas. Though the day had started misty, the parking lot was full of people with canvas bags, wandering the stalls for emu oil, organic pecans, salad greens, and, of course, goat cheese. A folk singer was playing under one of the tents, and Denny broke away for a moment from the clutch of customers to request a song: one line was about goats eating anything, and even though Denny protested that it wasn't true, he clapped and shouted every time the word goat was sung.

When the Boltons met in the early eighties, Sara already had a few goats. Over the years, they've become more serious about their dairy and their cheeses, but it wasn't until five years ago that Pure Luck cheeses broke onto the national scene. In competition, they began receiving top awards, and with them the kind of recognition that led to a profile in Laura Werlin's book The New American Cheese. Now, their cheeses appear in stores across the country. Sara's cheesemaking techniques, which she teaches in workshops both at the dairy and in other venues, such as Langston University's Goat Field Day, have taken her as far as Armenia, where she spent a month visiting with cheesemakers as part of a USAID program.

With all of Pure Luck's successes, however, they continue to sell cheese from a cooler on the farm, strictly by the honor system; there's a metal box full of loose bills to make change. Though their cheeses are sold at Artisanal Cheese Center, in New York, they still see the Westlake Farmer's Market as one of their most important markets. I suspect that this is in part simple modesty, and in part their natural, down-to-earth approach to life.

On the day we visited with them, we followed from the market out to their farm, driving past countless ranches and live oaks through the hills of Texas as the weather gradually became wetter. By the time we reached the farm, it had gotten so muddy that Sara hopped out of their van to advise that we park on the road to avoid getting stuck. In their house, after leaving our shoes on the porch, we padded around and shared a delicious organic salad, whole grain bread, and some cookies that their daughter Hope had made that morning with a friend who spent the night. During lunch, a car full of people pulled into the farmstand and then got stuck in the mud, so Denny put on some shoes and a rain jacket and went into the field to help pull them out. Their daughter Amelia, who lives on the property and, with Sara, makes all the Pure Luck cheeses, came by to meet us and have some lunch. A neighbor dropped by for a visit, and helped to come up with a list of area goat farmers for us to contact. Everyone wished Karl a happy birthday and joy in the coming year.

Around five o'clock, we clomped through the sticky Texas muck to meet their herd and tour the dairy. Though it was still pouring with rain, the light had turned a beautiful pale orange. It was as though, through the thundering clouds, the hills were glowing. Surrounded by goats and flourishing fields of vegetables, we felt, not only in the heart of Texas, but in its bosom. By the time we left the farm, warmed with tea but still a little damp in filthy shoes, night had fallen and the sky had cleared. The stars were big and bright, as promised. —MMH