![Picture](/uploads/1/2/3/6/12365113/mama-with-baby_orig.jpg)
So, my engineer brother and chemist sister-in-law retire and move to Vermont and I hardly recognize them anymore. These NJ/MA people – cool and collected NJ turnpike drivers – now don’t own anything without four wheel drive. They own a backhoe tractor and a truck. My SIL is helping birth sheep and she’s become an expert on sheep poop. Seriously, this trip there is a book called “Scat and Tracks of the Northeast” on their coffee table. Yes, a book about poop. You wouldn’t know they were cogs in the corporate world not all that long ago. They compost and they buy organic ketchup. Who are these people?!
Well, happy retired people – still engaged in the world around them. I’m convinced curiosity is an essential ingredient to old age. Their days are active and always interesting. And I’ve learned more about farming than I ever knew just by hanging with them. This week’s lessons have been largely about the habits and needs of pregnant sheep and their newborn lambs. My SIL knows the sheep by name and talks to them; they appear to recognize her and respond. If she happens to miss greeting one, it will come nudge her.
Did you know that sheep have a field of vision of around 300 degrees, allowing them to see behind themselves without having to turn their head? This means you have a very small chance of sneaking up on a sheep. Good to know, but in general I don’t try to sneak up on farm animals.
Well, happy retired people – still engaged in the world around them. I’m convinced curiosity is an essential ingredient to old age. Their days are active and always interesting. And I’ve learned more about farming than I ever knew just by hanging with them. This week’s lessons have been largely about the habits and needs of pregnant sheep and their newborn lambs. My SIL knows the sheep by name and talks to them; they appear to recognize her and respond. If she happens to miss greeting one, it will come nudge her.
Did you know that sheep have a field of vision of around 300 degrees, allowing them to see behind themselves without having to turn their head? This means you have a very small chance of sneaking up on a sheep. Good to know, but in general I don’t try to sneak up on farm animals.