My friends know me too well. I told a few people I’d been hanging out with the sheep and you could tell no one really believed me. When I told Wilson in the car from the airport to our fair little mountain she said nearly nothing and when we got home she pulled me aside to say, “Christina, I don’t think everyone else understands how unlikely that is? I’m having a hard time picturing it.” So because I figured you couldn’t imagine it either I have proof. Sure I just barely rolled out of bed for this day and wasn’t exactly PLANNING on holding any sheep but we had to weigh over 300 baby lambs for some government documentation. Usually they’re all out pasturing but they’d all been gathered for the event and at one point Sam looked over at me and put a lamb in my arms and I’m sure it was a sight to be seen as I looked incredibly awkward.
In case you weren’t aware of it. I have a bit of a reputation. It’s almost embarrassing because it’s always met to faces of complete horror but I just don’t love animals… Please don’t dart glares at me. Janis I promise, I love your dog. I generally like my friends pets and I admit I even had a dog for a few years but in general I’m not very excited by animals. So being at a birding site… yeah, kinda awkward.
That being said I’ve always had a special place for lambs. As a child my mom and my nan made me a quilt in blue and white with lambs embroidered on it that read, “count the sheep then go to sleep.” But while I think they’re cute you have to remember that when I walked down to the shepherds house I had my camera in tow to document and that’s it. Instead I walked into a strong smelling cloud, and eventually was lifting these little babes that were wet, sticky and left their mark on me. What I thought was just a half hours work was an entire morning. What looked like 20 sheep was over 300 and while it wasn’t like me, I enjoyed the change of pace and I’m also starting to question if I really loath animals or not… (but that doesn’t mean I want one.)
