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Pastoral Tasks

Moving the flock is one of those tasks that has me feeling slightly annoyed knowing I have to do it but as soon as the Kelpies and I are underway, feeling glad that I get too. There is a feeling of assurance and rightness in doing one of the oldest pastoral tasks there is. The smooth flock moves are golden of course. Yet even the rough flock moves where things go awry leave their pastoral stamp upon the soul.

Last night’s plan was to night pen the ewes and release them to a new pasture in the morning. It wasn’t a long move but what I didn’t take into account was how frisky the ewes were feeling on account of cooler weather after several days of intense heat. I let my assumption of an easy move with a flock I know blind me to the real mood of the ewes. The move was soured when we lost our sheep. My frustration got the better of me and I wrongfully chastised the stock dog who was helping me. He had no clue what his misstep had been – he hadn’t made one at that point.

In the grand scheme of things a move gone awry is trivial. We always get the flock where needed and we all still show up for work the next day. In hindsight, the injury lies in knowing that I let wee frustrations interfere with the pastoral nature of the task in front of me. Letting haste and frustration steal those moments feels like wasting a vital and precious piece of my own nature. Wasting those moments feels like disregard for the very thing I am searching for in raising sheep in this manner.

wool sheep with cowbirds

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Sheep, Grasshoppers and Birds

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Our wee Spring moisture did not last nor did any rains follow it. The summer landscape is a blend of dying yellow grasses mixed with the darker greens of the clover, vetch and alfalfa. I saw the first grasshoppers back in early June. That hatch is now adults. When the kelpies and I walk the prairie waves of grasshoppers lift and leap around us. The click of their wings and the purr of their collective movement is a notable noise as we travel. The wee garden I managed to sow this year has already been significantly damaged by grasshoppers.

My latest fascination when visiting the ewes on pasture is the numerous small birds that have joined the flock and ride on the back of the sheep. The small birds are here in strong numbers again this year, perhaps on account of the incredible grasshopper population.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”3205″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]When I arrive in the vicinity of the flock numerous birds fly up from the grass where they were feeding right among the ewes. Several will fly off into the distance with the swooping grace only a collection of birds can pull off, while several individuals will land on the back of nearby ewes. I have my camera at hand and ready and still it is hard to capture these feathered characters. While I am sure the ewes are aware of the birds on their back they do not show any sign of being bothered by them. Occasionally a cagey bird will land on a ewes head and then the ewe will toss her head in annoyance.

The dry land, the hoppers, the birds, they are an elementary sequence of events playing out among a myriad of natural occurrences we are far less aware of. I strive to be in cohesion with Mother Nature and yet when I pause to watch the birds and the sheep, and when a crowd of grasshoppers swarms the hood of the side by side with every trip back and forth, I can’t help but wonder if we have it all backwards. Humans tend to think we control the nature around us but I am less and less sure of that with the more time I spend on this interminable prairie land.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”3204″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Tidbit From Beyond the Rat Race

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]A little slice of life beyond the rat race. It just makes your breath slow, does it not?[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”3177″ img_size=”large”][vc_column_text]It is early morning and there is a fine mist in the air from a recent rainfall. The landscape has just begun to flush with the brilliant green of spring. The grass is full of moisture each morning. Half a dozen steps and your boots will be sufficiently washed by their leaves.

The ewes have just been turned out for the day. They were penned overnight to allow for a move to new pasture because the day before they went a walk about off of the farm property. Even though it is early for you and I, they would normally be half way to full with grazing by this time of the morning. Being held in an overnight paddock means that on this morning they are subject to my schedule rather than theirs. I fed guardian dogs before releasing the ewes and the ewes watched in the manner that sheep do, which is to look like you’re not watching at all. But when I moved toward the gate, many heads came up and it took only two calls of “come girls, come girls,” before the ewes were streaming toward the open gate.

From there all I did was watch them go.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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