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Have you driven along the hills near the Sonoma coast in the past week? Baby lambs are sprouting like walking cauliflowers. They're only a few days old. I highly recommend you take a ride (bike or car) out towards the beach to see the new arrivals.
Years ago on a brisk, sunny January day, I was driving along the Bohemian highway (about a mile NW of Freestone) when a man standing in the middle of the road waved for me to stop. Behind him was a herd of sheep being moved from a pasture on the west side of the road to a fresh pasture to the east. For one cranky moment I was glad it was the end of my workday and I had time to spare. I turned off the engine and sat back to watch the parade before me.
The wait was rewarded when the last of
the herd came through the fence followed by a dozen tottering lambs. The lambs first ran after the ewes then turned back to the open fence, then to the left, and then to the right, confused and excited by all
the commotion. The
ranchers walked back and forth directing the ewes and lambs to the new pasture.
An upwelling of gratitude for fresh starts and new life filled me and I wept as I watched the spectacle. In one instant, an event that began as a mild annoyance became a deep opening to see again the incredible innocence that is all new life, that was once me, that is in us all - still.
Filled with this great joy I got out of the car to wave my arms at the lambs and direct them to their goal. I asked the rancher how old they were. "Two to three days," was his answer. When we embark on a new path, direction, or a new self perception, we are often filled with a mix of excitement, confusion, and possibly a sense of being lost or without bearings. And sometimes we may feel two or three days old, raw and innocent. How do we maintain that fresh view and develop our wisdom at the same time? For local folks I'll be expanding on this theme in the winter classes (see below). |
