Prairie – Wool Stone & Prairie

Prairie Allure

Musing, Prairie / December 20, 2023 December 20, 2023

The sky is a blanket of gun mental grey, the wind is barely there. Tinted by frost the yellow and burnt oranges of the grasses are more grey than gold. The trees are leafless. No sunlight shines and no shadows are cast.

The landscape of prairie stretching outward under the flat sky is beautifully composed with an opulent silence. No sound is being made and yet every sound is being heard. The trail for one leading onward is alluring. The dogs and I walk long and deep because it is what the morning calls for. And with the walking perspectives are realigned and purposes are recharged.

Sheep, Grasshoppers and Birds

Prairie / July 17, 2023 July 17, 2023

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.

cowbirds riding along the backs of sheep

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.

Simple Flock Moves

Musing, Prairie / May 13, 2023 May 13, 2023

I moved the flock from the winter pasture to the pasture showing the most promise of available grass. The dry years combined with a modest grazing rotation have wreaked havoc on certain areas of the farm while other areas continue to hold on and grow grass. I no longer carry any burden of expectation that there will ever be enough fencing in place for regenerative agriculture to happen here. There just isn’t enough man power for that amount of labour. Plus I’m now at an age where I don’t want to see more fences go up, in fact, I’d prefer that some come down. I’d prefer to see this place be wide open prairie land once more. I think that the land deserves that destiny once again.

It is a simple matter to move sheep to places they want to go to and right now the ewes want to go anywhere there is grass. Nonetheless less there is always sincere enjoyment in the work of the Kelpies. My crew of Kelpies are well aged now and the eldest fellow has recently passed. I feel a deeper commitment to not taking simple flock moves for granted but appreciating them for the milestone they are.