It's the Day After - I am tired, my feet hurt, my back hurts, my head hurts - and yet, I remain oddly giddy and euphoric.
For a few years now, we have opened the farm up to the public for Shearing Day. The wools need to be sheared every year, and I know everyone in the world wants to know about sheep as much as I do, so we invite the public. Having acclimated to the south, you do not invite people over without feeding them, so we set up a cook tent to provide food (this year it was white chili, cinnamon muffins, and hot dogs). And as long as everybody is here, they might as well visit with the dogs, and the horses, and the chickens and turkeys. And oh yeah, while you're here, might as well see how the wool is cleaned, carded and woven into fabric.
I spend my time focused on the shearing (you know, the whole reason for the season thing).
But thanks to what seems like an army of volunteers, people show up, are assisted with parking and where to find things, and treated like....well, guests! My friends run the horseback riding, the dog loving, the cook tent, the Farm Store, the fleece skirting, the wool carding, and the weaving. I never get to actually see it all happening, but the pictures look amazing.
Despite my popular reputation as a curmudgeon, it is so deeply satisfying to see people I have met throughout the year show up at my natural habitat and give me a hug. And it is just as amazing to see the new faces beaming as they experience "farm living."
I realized this year that we all may be getting "too old for this shit" , so I am never sure if we are going to do it all again next year. But for now? I am so grateful and thankful for the ability to have done it this year.
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