Yesterday I saved the life of two sheep.
It had been a hard day. The kids were especially argumentative about school. I have been battling nearly daily migraines and struggling to know what my next move should be in how to combat them.
We were leaving the farm for a few hours, so I took our three doggies for a walk over to the sheep just to do my normal, daily check.
And something seemed ... off.
I realized that while I am not with the sheep like a shepherd would be, I know them. I know their sounds. I know when a "baaaah" is more worried than happy.
I could launch into some amazing Biblical imagery here, but I'll refrain. The sheep metaphors have been done to oblivion.
Instead of doing a very quick, cursory glance, I spent more time and investigated father. I found two rams severely tangled in some green fencing. We had put this fencing up to make sure the sheep stayed out of a Mimosa tree that killed one of our rams a few years back. (Sheep are allergic to the pods of this tree.) Both of these rams were severely tangled -- one of them probably wouldn't have lived much longer judging by how badly he looked.
It felt good. It felt positive to do something helpful for these animals. While we love our animals, the more they move up the "scale", the more we enjoy/love them. Our dogs are the top "dogs." Under them are sheep. Under them are chickens. And under them are ducks/goose. This is just how it is. The more "human" an animal is, the more you value it.
The sheep take great care of our land. They are helping our pastures grow and improve by their grazing. They are having babies to feed us. They are feeding us with their meat.
I am SO thankful I went by when I did. I'm so thankful I didn't show up too late. I have found dead animals before. Finding our big Daddy ram dead under the Mimosa tree was one of the saddest days for me on the farm. I don't want to have to do it again.
A happy time ...
No comments:
Post a Comment