Here We Go Again

I'm writing this on February 8, 2021. By my calculations, we should start lambing in 12 days. By the ewes' calculations, we'll probably begin a day or two before then. Regardless of when we actually begin, I find myself looking at the coming lambing season through a different lens than in previous years. In 2020, our lambing season was bisected by the original stay-at-home order issued in response to the arrival of COVID-19. This year, I look at lambing as a beacon of normalcy in what has been a chaotic twelve months.

As anyone who knows me can attest, lambing season is my favorite time of year. Lambing, even at our relatively small scale, is an intense period. Next week. we'll begin checking the ewes 2-3 times a day; at least three times a day once the first lambs are born. In stormy weather, we'll check the sheep through the night, as well. But the work of a shepherd is rewarded with being able to witness new life first hand. Our work is rewarded when we watch week-old lambs discover the springs in their legs. Our work is rewarded because it connects us to shepherds who lived generations - or even millennia - ago. Shepherds who would recognize the work we do in the 21st Century.

Between the pandemic and politics, the last year has been tumultuous (to put it mildly). My work as a farm advisor has changed - rather than offering hands-on learning experiences for ranchers, I've provided webinars on Zoom. The administrative responsibilities of my job have been overwhelming at times. And so I'm finding that I'm looking forward to lambing even more than normal.

To be a shepherd is to be socially distant, in many ways. The economics of raising sheep (or any livestock or crop, really) requires us to be as efficient with our labor as possible. In other words, we can't afford any more help than absolutely necessary! And while our sheep are a sideline for me economically, I find that I look forward to the early mornings spent feeding guard dogs and checking fences. I especially look forward to walking through the lambing paddock at the start of every day from late February through early April. And to doing it again at the end of each day.

Caring for animals during the birthing process, for me, takes a specific kind of focus and patience. I make myself slow down during lambing - I'm on the ewes' schedule, not my own. That's not to say I ignore my other responsibilities, but I will admit to rescheduling - or even cancelling - a meeting that conflicts with the necessary work of pulling a lamb or making sure a ewe has bonded with her babies. Lambing helps me understand priorities.

This year marks the sixteenth lambing season since we started raising sheep commercially. As I grow older, I realize that I have a finite number of these lambing seasons ahead of me. This year, with all that's happened in our community, our country, and our world since my last lambing season, I'm taking a deep breath. Thank goodness - here we go again!