8 Days/88 Acres: Day 5 Little Bo-Peep

It is Sunday, the day of rest, unless you are on a farm. I slept in until 6:00 and decided to stay in my pajamas and flip flops and drink coffee out on the deck. I nailed making the coffee this morning on the first try and wah-lah, coffee happened.

I headed out onto the deck with coffee and cell phone in hand. As I closed the door I heard a loud and close by "Mah! Mah! Mah!" I turned around and there was one of the lambs.  Choco-lamb as I call him, was outside of the barn standing there calling out to me but actually for its mother. I began walking over to the lamb trying to figure out how the heck he got out and how the hell I was going to get him back in?! My outfit was an instagram moment for sure as I was wearing all the wrong things for dealing with farm animals. I've got on pajamas, robe and flip flops, not in the best position to be doing this work, but I didn't want the lamb to take off and run away either, so I risked stepping into all kinds of animal feces, and stepping on or potentially falling into God knows what. Tetanus shot? Check!

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I started getting pretty close to Choco-lamb until he ran over to the entrance of the barn which was locked, so I knew he didn't get in that way. As I tried to coax him into the barn, he was having none of it and literally jumped 3 feet off the ground and ran around and into the side barn area that he clearly escaped from.  Of course being a dog owner, I told the lamb to "stay, stay, stay!" As I entered the barn laughing at myself I opened up the door to the lean-to and there were zero sheep in there except for Choco-lamb. Also, there were no sites or sounds of sheep anywhere, no wonder choco-lamb was crying. His mother was lost and he was separated from the herd. At this point I realize I have probably lost an entire herd of sheep and I'm wondering how I will explain this; my laughter is gone and my adrenaline is high. In the meantime with choco-lamb back in the barn, I walk then run into the house and upstairs to wake up the boy.

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The boy says they are out there, probably on another pasture. I tell him he needs to get up because I can't see them on any pasture! As he's telling me it is fine, I am in the other room throwing on clothes and running out the door to find where the sheep are. The boy is already down there as I catch up with him. He maintains they are out there. He starts climbing the big gate and so do I.

I climb three big gates in succession. Yes! I still have gymnastics muscle memory, contrary to what my inner thighs are telling me as I swing my legs over. ​ We walk the pasture and it is silent, this is not good, we continue walking, though now uphill and he says "See, there they are, the electric fence must not be on, they crawled under the fence to get into another pasture." What other pasture? I didn't know that there was another one. It all looks like just one big area to me.
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Choco-lamb runs back out to his mama, and now all of the sheep see us, and they start running towards us, first en masse, but then they form a single formation which is so fascinating and humorous at the same time. They are all calling out "mah, mah, mah". I asked the boy what do we do now?  He says "they will just run past us, they think we have food, I'm going to go turn on the fence." The boy is right, single file they run past us, including the lambs.

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The boy is so calm and knowing, as if this happens everyday like the sun coming up. There is no freaking out that is visible in words or manner. At 13, he is already more capable than most 18 year olds who leave home. I cannot stop talking because I am so thankful that the sheep were not gone. It's amazing how the mind creates stories, and my mind is wonderful at coming up with very dramatic life threatening scenarios.

The boy teaches me how to turn on the fence, you just plug it in and check the voltage. I thank him and tell him to go back to bed. It is now 6:30 am, my coffee is cold and I don't care. I pick up my 23 year old Starbucks thermos tilt my head back and drink the whole damn thing. Somehow the java counters my adrenaline rush and I relax. I call my husband and tell him the whole story, we are both laughing and all is well. 

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Everyday that I am here,  I am learning new things, and being challenged physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. I'm sleeping very deeply and soundly. My take away each day is lots of gratitude for this place and these experiences. I continue to show myself what I am still made of: physical strength a capable mind and a spirit that is still interested and ready for the adventures that life keeps providing. 

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