23 September

Zelda’s Move: A Long Way Back

by Jon Katz
Moving Day

Zelda is moving with the other sheep to the new farm this afternoon. Ken Norman is coming to pick her and the other sheep up (we might be buying one more). It has been more than two years since I first saw Rocky out in the field in front of his fallen barn, and it seems a lifetime since we decided to buy the farm, put this one up for sale, and began the process of moving, painting, wallpapering, repairs and fencing. It feels like a long time, and today feels like a big day.

We are not moving in yet – Ajay is living in the house and keeping an eye on things – but when you bring animals to a farm, that is a landmark. We have a very small number of animals in comparison to my first move. I had 35 sheep, four donkeys, four dogs, chickens, goats and a few cows. Now we are going to the new farm with three dogs, three donkeys, three chickens, and two barn cars. Seems highly manageable to us. Living with these animals not only shapes my work and my photography, but shapes my life, mine and Maria’s. We love tending to the animals together, learning from them, writing about them, listening to them. One of the great gifts in my life (Maria being the greatest.)

Zelda is an unusually intelligent and alert sheep. She is the sentry sheep, watching out for the others, and she never takes her eyes off of me and Red, when we are around.

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