“When you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there. “
Cheshire Cat, Alice in Wonderland
A fitting quote as I pour sweat and tears working behind the scenes of this blog and website while attempting updates with the trepidation that comes with not knowing precisely what I am aiming for. The spotty internet connection causes most of the tears.
Some subtle changes are coming, one of which is including photography that isn’t about sheep or a dog but is all about prairie. A small and fitting step in rising up into the title of Photographer at Wool, Stone & Prairie.
On the prairie Coyotes are always nearby and the community and story of the flock is always in flux. Safe one day, not safe the next.
Needle felted coyote; made with wool.
When predators encroach and attempt to kill it is not only the livestock guardian dogs that are called to action. The shepherd now needs to make quick management decisions – can the flock stay where it is, is day shepherding needed, is night penning required, is a move to a new pasture in order, will there be enough feed and a water source there? If not, then what? When a decision is reached the herding dogs are called to action to make it all doable. Coexistence is a collective effort of man, beast and nature, even though our individual goals may not be the same.
3D felted wool; flock of sheep on the move
To coexist each much suffer wins and losses and be okay with that, knowing the balanced outcome is what we’re all reaching for. This is what makes coexistence so unique and powerful. But when mankind decides we can’t possibly suffer a loss things become heavily skewed – enter the present day circumstances here. Always there is an over abundance of suffering for one party. From this point onward it will take even longer to reach a state of balance again.
3D felted coyote, made with wool
Yes, Coyotes are always nearby but more often than not they are passing through. And while we need to vent the frustration and anguish of losses when they occur it is equally important to give gratitude for all the days in between, when the natural miracle of coexistence is at play.
This one was made unusual by the collapsed wool market. With very little wool moving on the export market many large flock owners are having to decide what to do with wool they won’t get paid for. One more example of agriculture being at the mercy of exporting product rather than having local initiatives and markets for what is produced in any given area.
Freshly shorn ewe having a graze while also calling for her mates
I kept numerous individual fleeces for processing into batting for selling, plus I’ll use some in my felting work. But the bulk of the wool clip never even got bagged this year. Instead we piled it on the ground and I can’t tell you how off it felt to do that. I did have some plan for it though so at least it wasn’t going to the dump which is where a good many wool clips will end up this year.
My first plan was to use the wool for erosion control on the trails out to pasture, and then for some land reclamation trials. But then Allen came up with a better idea. We have an outbuilding that is slated to be a three season wool house / small dog kennel in the future. We’re going to use the wool for insulation of this building which feels very fitting and eased the sense of wrong that piling it on the ground presented.
Freshly shown sheep on the move
The whole wool scenario causes me to reflect on the felted flock project which seems very timely now. I have a renewed urgency to tackle that project and see it done. There have also been numerous whispers this past year, whispers to value add. At first I thought of this only in regard to the sheep flock and the farm but now I realize that artwork is value adding what I have and photography is value adding what I witness here on a regular basis, and writing is value adding the experiences lived while here on this place. This is the value adding that needs my attention.
