Day: May 15, 2014

Ma had a long and brutal delivery, and we literally pulled these lambs out of her. There are all sorts of things happening in my life and in the pasture, but I am very much drawn to Ma and her lambs, Deb and Jake. Ma is a wonderful mother, she is mature, experienced, gentle and attentive.

There is a quiet about her and her lambs, an ease and a beauty, neither of them is as outgoing and adventurous as Liam or Pumpkin, but there is something very beautiful about the three of them. Ma seems so much more in the world now than she was, I think, for all of her troubles, she was meant to be a mother.

Every day I go out and stand near the three of them, they are all easy around me and my camera, today I sat down next to them on this windy and cloudy day, and they came and nursed and grazed next to me. The tension and strain of last week is fading away, it is nourishing and peaceful to see this process unfold. Ma is a good mother, it is inspiring to see her.

In New York, Chief Avrol Looking Horse told me that white animals are sacred in Native-American culture, they have great meaning and symbolism. I took out my Iphone and showed him photos of Liam and the twins, and he laughed and nodded. Liam is getting bigger by the day, he is going to be big, he is all healed up and swaggers around the pasture.

He and Pumpkin race around the field all day, and every now and then he goes to visit Deb and Jake, Ma’s lambs. I think this is definitely going to be his pasture.

We got two new chicks this afternoon from Jenna Woginrich of Cold Antler Farm, we lost the leghorn a few weeks ago. The chicks are in the barn where they will stay awhile, they are under a heat lamp and the two existing hens will get used to them. We don’t name our chickens, but we welcome them to the farm. I hope neither of them is a rooster. Lambs and chickens, a good measure of springtime.

Just before midnight, we walked down Seventh Avenue to Times Square, it was jammed with thousands – tens of thousands – of people, most of them foreign tourists, you could walk blocks without hearing English. Look at one way, the square is gorgeous, a riot of colors. Digital images surround the square, in every conceivable color, some are small, some are enormous. Every step of the way, we were assaulted by hawkers selling all kinds of good, fake Gucci handbags, bus rides, jewelry, tourist baubles, CD’s, used books, peanuts, candy.

There were sirens and flashing lights, songs and loudspeakers.

If you allow yourself to suspend reality and enter the virtual world, it is like taking a journey to another dimension. It is another dimension and although it made me very uncomfortable after a few minutes, almost everyone there had a cell phone or camera out, faithfully recording their trip to this virtual world.

Every day one of us has a talk with the donkeys, most often it is Maria. Animals sense and smell emotions and hers are right on the surface. I often stand back with a camera, I love watching and listening to their conversations.