Picture Imperfect

It’s no secret that I love a good picture.

I love taking them, sharing them, and getting them from other people. If you happen to be one of my frequent texting buddies, you know this to be true. And I’m only a little bit sorry about it.

My eye is completely uneducated. I don’t have a clue about composition, lighting, or anything else that makes for truly excellent pictures. I subscribe to the philosophy, learned from Dad, that says “if you take a million of ’em, surely one or two will turn out okay.”

I hope the person who conceived the idea to include a camera with the cell phone was compensated ridiculously, because that human contributed mightily to the well-being of society. At least this corner of society.

We have completely filled our phone memories and cloud memories with photos and videos of the sheep making themselves at home. As expected, the wee ones are hogging the spotlight. I wonder if this experience is similar to human babies, when the first ones get loads of documentation and the later ones somewhat less? We’ll see. For now, we’re building an embarrassingly thorough photo library of lamb growth and development. If you need a stock photo of a black and white lamb standing, sitting, grazing, nursing, dozing, chewing, peeing, pooping, frolicking, wandering, baaing, or various other things, alone or in company, send up a flare. I probably have it.

I’m building another collection along with the photo gallery. It’s fleeting and impermanent. This library is filling with residual echoes of experiences that are only full in their moment:

• The quiet but tangible sense of anticipation in the ewes when I’m about to open their stall door to the pasture.
• The vitality in the synchronized tail wiggles when the twins are nursing.
• The gravitas in Lizzy’s regal stare compared to the clear expectation in Georgiana’s.
• The soft, warm weight of Eliza as she curls up against my leg in the pasture to rest.
• The insistent outrage in the cry of a lamb stuck on the wrong side of a fence.
• The scent of the barn.
• The harmony of geese overhead, sheep and donkeys in the pasture, chickens in the run, and dogs in town all calling out in the morning.

And then the less romantic impressions:

• I have exactly zero pairs of shoes at our new home that have not had unmentionable substances on them.
• I am learning the physical sensation of straw and/or hay everywhere. And dirt. And sometimes, unmentionable substances.
• I might be washing my hands almost as much as when I worked in a nursing home.
• Dry and scraped up hands make for a different knitting experience.
• Worry about well-being crosses species lines very easily.

None of these will make it into a photo album. They can’t be captured with my cell phone camera.

I will probably become accustomed to most of these, and it may all become part of the regular rhythm of this new life.

But maybe the photos and videos we’ve been capturing will help trigger some of the magic and joy of this season of discoveries.

I hope so.

Greg’s Got Questions

Thank you to those of you who participated in the poll last week!

The winning question was: What have you enjoyed the most about filling out the “Beast” part of our Beast to Blanket business? And, what have you not enjoyed about it? Bonus question on top of the previous bonus question I snuck in on you: What has surprised you the most?

So far, the most enjoyable part for me has been learning the personalities of our flock members. Not all have been quick to reveal themselves, but we already have some strong personalities who have made themselves known. And, of course, the babies are a delight. Especially when they’re little enough to be held and petted without much objection.

I did not enjoy experiencing our first loss, especially because of how it happened. I know we’ll go through more losses, but God willing, they won’t be like that one.

It was a bit of a shock to realize we’d seriously underestimated the strength of the rams and the security of the housing they’d require. But, as we keep reminding ourselves: We’re learning!

Greg’s Questions for This Week:

Here are the questions up for the vote this week. I’ll answer the winner in the next newsletter. (As a matter of procedure, the poll function takes you to another page to submit your vote, so if that happens to you, you’re on the right track!)

Question 1: Did you know that the invention of the cell phone camera was the result of another newborn cutie and her proud daddy? Philippe Kahn – Wikipedia

Question 2: Again with the big words for your vocabularily challenged husband. “Gravitas”? Sounds like what came into play when you fell down while we were chasing Mr. Bingley around the pasture.

Question 3: How are you able to maintain a mindset of staying present to observe and appreciate all the things around us when we’re with the animals? This is such an amazing skill you have and I would like to be better in this area. I typically see all the tasks that need to be completed and let these precious moments slip by unnoticed. Maybe there are others like me who would like some tips on what works for you.

Happy knitting,

Kiersten J