Cindy Casavant, a/k/a “The Goat Lady” (and the soap maker and cook and baker) and one of my favorite Portrait People (she fits well within my criteria: – I admire and respect her and admire her.

Cindy, like farmers everywhere, is stressed.

She had more than 100 goats to care for and feed daily, along with her exhausted husband Larry, and struggled with the hard work and unpredictable life and income that came with the farm. She also works until 10 p.m. every night to sell her goat cheese and booming soap business  (the best soap I have ever used with a score of different scents.)

Her soap is taking off, and she has a keen business sense. Like so many people, she has never learned to relax.

We met at the Farmer’s Market; I fell in love with her soap and the goat cheese from her goats. She also makes truffles, pies, and cookies. Her soap business has taken off, but the goat farm is a demanding place, and she and Larry work just about all the time.

We’ve visited her farm several times, and she will come and visit us soon; we have become friends. A couple of weeks ago, she talked to me about her stress from working all the time and her feeling (familiar to Maria) of never having enough time to do the work she has to do.

I told her I was teaching a successful meditation class at the Mansion, and I wondered if that might be helpful to her, along with going to bed earlier, which she is trying to do.

I know a lot of farmers up here, and I don’t know one who isn’t stressed from the hard work and unpredictable climate and income.

I’ve talked to a few about meditation, and I know that is something many of them resist. But two or three now do it regularly and tell me it has changed their lives and stress levels.

Western doctors now accept meditation as a nonpill or prescription way to lower blood pressure, help keep the heart healthy, and prolong life. It has been a godsend to me and Maria.

I know it’s difficult for busy farmers to accept – taking time to sit still and be quiet. But I believe in it, and I am confident it can help people like Cindy, who is both sensitive and open-minded.

We’ve made two appointments, and she bailed out of both because she felt she had too much work. This is familiar to me. I need to keep at it gently. This is the kind of challenge I love.

I saw Cindy at the Farmer’s Market this afternoon, and she said she very much wanted to try meditating. I suggested we do the first season on the phone to discuss how it feels for her.

I’m not going to badger her, but I sense she wants to do this, and I know it is something I want to do with her.

We have another tentative appointment for this week. With her permission, I’ll keep you posted. She is worth the trouble, and I believe it can help her.

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Next week, I plan to meet with Casey Face, the young mother starting a food and beverage company that works out of an old wagon being restored. She lives in my town just a couple of miles away. She is a member of the Cambridge Farmer’s Market, her stand is right next to Cindy Casavant’s.

I want to write about her, photograph her, and track her ambitious and creative plan to sell high-quality food to people in a rural town. She has two young children who are eager to pursue her dreams, something I always love to write about.

I’m going to her home next week to talk with her and see her care, and I hope to follow her work to build something special. A week after giving birth to her second child, she was at the Farmer’s Market selling tea, coffee, and delicious juices. I’m eager to follow this dream with her.

This is the kind of person I admire and want to write about.