A Llama's True Calling

On knowing where you belong and having the confidence to be there.

The weather has been amazing lately, and while I’m out in the pasture with the animals, the brilliant colors of the skies and plants and animals astonish me. Blue and brown and green and white stitch a beautiful quilt. The sheep, goats, and llamas (or, as they’re known in our farm record books, The SGL) are grazing their way through the farm, favoring big patches of clover and tender young grass.

Our most recent addition, Daishin the Llama, stands in the back paddock in the picture above. He is just over a year old, has a friendly, inquisitive face, and is keeping an eye on the two-year-old and yearling ewes. Skittles is taking care of the ewes and lambs, and Snickers, our original brown llama, is taking care of the rams and buck.

That wasn’t the original plan. Skittles told me one day that he didn’t appreciate his assignment of watching over the Shetland rams and pygmy buck. He had been with them for less than a week when I tried to move him and his charges to the next paddock for grazing. The ewes and lambs were bedded nearby in the next pen over.

Skittles lay in the corner of his paddock, just across the netting from the ewes and lambs. When I walked over to ask him to stand up and move to the next pen, he stood up, stared at me, and blinked.

“Come on, Skittles,” I said, “you need to follow the others.”

Skittles just looked me straight in the eye and would not take one step.

“See, they’ve already moved.” I pointed to the rams and buck, who already had their heads down, foraging through the tall grass.

Still, Skittles refused to move away from the ewes and lambs.

Finally, I closed the opening to the rams’ and buck’s paddock and opened up the netting for the ewes and lambs to move into the pen where Skittles still stood. The sheep streamed around the big llama, whose head swayed back and forth, seeming to examine each ewe and lamb to ensure all was well.

Once all the ewes and lambs were in the paddock and I’d shut and secured the netting, Skittles gazed around, and once he was content that everyone was settled in, he lay in the middle of the paddock and chewed on some reed canary grass, flicking his ears contentedly.

Snickers moved nonchalantly over to the rams’ paddock. A couple of days later, Daishin arrived, and Skittles showed him the ropes as the young llama figured out his job.

Thanks for Reading!

And I hope you feel refreshed and rejuvenated for the week ahead with this moment preserved in picture and prose. Consider:

  • What is your true calling?

Share your answer and this newsletter with a friend who enjoys llama stories.

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This Week on the Farm

Last week, we announced it was contest time! We were looking for captions of the photo below:

The winning captioner has the opportunity to name our baby pygmy goat, born last month. Without further ado…

Our winner is Virgil! His caption was:

“The three lambs and dog are looking at Daishin and discussing if the new Llama can live up to its name. The other sheep are far more concerned about eating.”

Virgil also researched the meaning of the name Daishin and shared it with us: “‘Daishin’ embodies notions of greatness, truth, and spirituality. It’s a name that carries depth and significance.”

Congratulations, Virgil, and thanks to everyone who entered our contest! Stay tuned to Sylvan Sundays to find out what the baby goat’s new name is!

Farm Shop

This week’s featured fleece is from Elrond, Galadriel’s twin. His fleece is all white, no markings. Click the photo below to find out more!