I had a kind of out of body experience today as I walked down the road with a broom under one arm, a bucket in the other hand & two sheep following me.
Picture this – me in one of my summery maxi dresses, having a lovely day at home with my daughter when she shouts “sheep on the road!” I look & sure enough two sheep were on the front lawn eating the grass.
It’s not that unusual since we live on a farm. But, now comes the decision of what to do. If my husband was home, he’d handle putting them back into their field.
I grew up in the suburbs of New York & lived in NYC before moving to Ireland 10 years ago. Needless to say, I have very limited sheep handling experience – and they know it! Sheep are clever enough to know that you don’t know what you are doing. They single me out as the weak link & have literally run through my legs before.
Decisions, decisions – how will I put them in the field? There’s the driving them along option where I’d walk behind them forcing them in the direction I want them to go. I had the broom in my hand ready for action but, I’d risk them continuing past the gate & out the road because I was on my own. So, probably not a good plan.
Luckily, I remembered that these sheep-like eating our leftover bread & they run to the fence when they see the white bucket coming. So, I crumpled up a bit of brown bread & placed it in the white bucket.
Off I went, white bucket in one hand & broom under my arm (as a backup plan). Our lovely sheepdog Mia would be great for this job but I wouldn’t know how to direct her properly so I left her in a sit / stay in front of the house. I set off down the road, shaking the bucket & doing my best sheep calling huhuh sound. Happily, they followed me!
Then the moment hit me – here I am, jogging down a pebbled road with grass growing up through the stones, bucket in hand, broom under arm & two sheep at my heels. Ten plus years ago, there is no way I could have ever pictured myself in this position.
It is wild how the accumulation of life’s decisions can bring you to someplace so new & so different from where you started!
Do you find this true in your life?
