When you help birth a creature, you get attached. Maria said goodbye to Bartleby and his mom in the barn this morning. The last of the sheep went back to Vermont.

I have never been strong on the idea of sheep as pets. I initially got them to work with Rose on herding, and then herding became something I didn’t naturally love doing as I turned more towards writing and less towards chaos and the sometimes mindless acquisition of animals. My focus needs to be on the dogs, which is what I write about.

But I like having sheep around, and find them very calming, even beautiful, up on a hill. And Rose loves working with them.

It was a great arrangement. Darryl Kuehne is a great farmer and a very good friend and we will be seeing him for dinner soon. He loved the arrangement where his sheep – about 40 of them – came to the farm this summer, and his grass could grow up so that he won’t need to put hay out until Thanksgiving. I am learning that for farmers, who live on the margins, that sort of thing can make a big difference.

Darryl is a great person to deal with. He always leaves eggs or pumpkins or vegetables when he come. He’s coming to Northshire Books for the kickoff of the “Rose In A Storm” tour. We both want to do this again next year, bringing some of the same sheep back. Darryl has taught me a lot about rotational grazing, and having the grass last.

I remember the morning I heard the distinctive cries from up behind the Pole Barn and I told Maria that it sounded like a lamb was up there. So it was. We got Bartleby and his mom together and they have remained inseparable. Darryl says they will stay together. So I was sad to see them go, and then also relieve. Animals are a huge responsibility, one I take seriously. And the donkeys are quite happy here (they would have to be mad to leave Maria and the farm.)

Having people like Darryl in my life  – honest, warm,  admirable – reminds me that I am growing up as a human being. There didn’t used to be any people like Darryl in my life.