It could have been such a different morning, but again and again, we are reminded of the joy and sorrow of a real life with real animals. I went t the barn and I heard Maria say from outside, “Oh, Jon, there’s a dead lamb.”  I saw Red rush over to see what she was seeing. Kim gave birth to her lamb sometime early this morning – a month or so ahead of schedule, it was almost certainly premature.

The lamb was frozen to the ground, I didn’t think it was Kim’s at first, but she stayed close to it, kept trying to catch it’s scent, she ignored Red, stood close to her lamb to protect it. “It could have been such a different morning,” Maria said, yes, it could have been, it would have been wonderful to have had Kim’s lamb this morning.

It is a wake-up call to us, the sheep are not due until April but we need to get prepared. I am haunted by the notion that the lamb might have frozen to death, but the birth was right outside of the Pole Barn, the mother would have gotten the lamb right inside where it was dry, and it was not especially cold this morning, I’ve seen many lambs do well in much worse weather. I would guess the lamb was still born and premature and was born dead.

But I can’t really know, it is just a guess. It could have been a different morning, I am sorry to bring sad news to you after such good news yesterday, but I don’t lie and I don’t sugarcoat our lives here, animals do not live a no-kill life, the real life of real animals is very often wrenching. Maria and Kim and Red huddled together for some time, it was especially moving, I’ll post another photo or two in awhile.