Yesterday, Darren's first day home after being in Africa (he had literally arrived at our house at 8:30 in the morning) coincided with my day off. I did want to see him so we hung out a bit after we dropped Lu off but then I needed my time so I read the newpaper a bit on Brick Lane. (Sidenote: I can't help myself from posting interesting tidbits from the newspaper...did you know they are considering posting carbon emissions on transportation tickets that you buy so that you can understand your environmental impact when you purchase?) I had a few things to do to prepare for our meeting last night so it never felt like an official day off but I did manage to grab Pea and take her to the farm with me, with hopes of hanging out with the baby lambs. My other goal was to be able to have one-on-one time with Peanut at the farm so that I could instruct her to restrain the inner urges to chase the sheep--she actually turned out to be very good yesterday with only one darting off. Her behavior was so good in fact the goats came up to the fence to see her this time instead of frantically running off.
When I arrived, I was happy to see this Muslim mom of 4 that I had conversed with on the farm before. It was fun to see her kids being able to be free within the fenced-in perimeter of the farm.
One of the farm workers who I am fairly familiar with said, "I like dogs, I am Muslim but I like dogs, most Muslims do not like dogs." If you've tracked my stories at all, you can assume this was a great encouragment to me. But I guess, after all, he is a farm volunteer. Soon after, this young man hopped a fence and ran over to the sheep pen where something was happening. The other mom and I and the 4 kids followed him. There was a brand new baby sheep and a dead mom lying on the ground. (Turns out this brand new baby and mom were not related.) Knowing that she was dead and that there might be other babies trapped inside of her, this man took a knife and cut her open amidst some gagging and revealed a couple of unmoving babies, one of which he pulled out lifeless and dripping. It was actually still a bit alive so Carol, the primary caretaker of the animals and an absolute lover of them, took this baby from him as it was fresh and dripping with amniotic fluid, put her mouth on its snout and tried to resucitate it. She tried a few times, slapping it here and there but to no avail. It was a bit of a sad moment but great to witness this interest and care for nature alongside these children.
As I walked out I said hi to the other baby sheep who nibbled on my fingers.
I am quite nervous about helping out on the farm but it is what I have wanted to do and am scheduled to learn the ropes on Monday after I drop Lu off at school. I know nothing about caring for farm animals and definitely do not have a green thumb but I am excited!
2 comments:
Wow- what an experience ... so sad. So pysched to hear that you have volunteer work!! It sounds like great fun-- you make a great farm-girl! I was eating lunch at te Norwegian home today and when the staff at the table found out that I was a wedding photographer (they all thought I was in college :-) they all wanted my business card. Maybe I will get a little work- very exciting!
Hi! Finally got to catch up on your blogs. love reading about your day to day. Glad that D made it back safely with great stories. Hope that you love the farm--I think you'll do great. am running a 5K race tomorrow ---burrrr it's supposed to be 39. big milestone for me though as it's the first in a long while. miss you!
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