A few years ago (about 2004), Corwyn and myself went to the Kutztown Folk
Festival - I grew up one town over, so the festival has a homecoming feel
for me. (Don't ask him what happens when he wears a Dreibelbis family tee
shirt like I told him not to....)
The petting zoo was new that year, and so we wandered around looking at
the critters. It was a *hot* day, so it felt good to be under the canvas
tents, away from the sun. They has all sorts of critters - the usual
chickens, cows (Holsteins of course), ducks, pigs, then some more
exotics... llamas, donkeys, peacocks, Guinea hens....
And way in the back corner, a pen of Jacob sheep!
I *love* Jacob sheep.....an old strain of sheep, the has patches of color
that ranges from white to cream to brown to gray to black. You can get
multiple colors of fleece off one sheep, and do amazing things with
blending and patterns in clothing. They have 4 to 6 horns, and they are
just the darndest cute things!! OK, so maybe I'm a little biased....
There were about 20 sheep in this pen, a few adults and mostly young
lambs. The adults were mostly their mothers, except for one ram who was
eyeing his herd with a jealous eye. He'd allow us to pet the little ones,
but nothing bigger than a hand (and preferably with food in it!) was
allowable below the surface of the pen's edge. He was small as far as
Jacob sheep were concerned, so we could shove him out of the way if he
got too "rammy", there was no danger. Just feeding some of the
kee-you-test creatures on the planet, having a blast...
And so I ask, out loud, "Well, which one of you wants to come home with
me??"
And didn't one of those precious precocious little guys come skipping up
to the edge of the pen, right in front of me, and look up as if to say,
"well, what are we waiting for?"
The keepers actually overheard us, and the look on my face was easy to
read...."which pocket should I put you in, and whom do I pay for such a
cutie?" And, since we lived in an apartment with no lawn and very little
room at the time, it was painful to actually thank the little one for his
vote of confidence, but we had no room to put him.....he got fed rather a
lot after that....
I have a picture of him, waiting expectantly at the edge of the
pen....and a bit further back in the photo, there's the ram, glaring at
me and daring me to put my hand back in there to pick him up, I'll be
booted into next week.....
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