Part II: Day 47: Days of Wonder

On Monday my sister and brother-in-law called me from the house to go outside and see something special.
 
They had me climb a ladder near the sweet little tea house where we had pictures taken of our family on the day they were married.

Up in a tree was a robins' nest.  The little hatchlings opened their mouths and squeaked, asking their mother for lunch.

I took these pictures, but really, you had to be there.  I felt so lucky to see these little guys on one of their first days in our world.
 
Back on the lawn, Zoe rolled over on her back and said, Do you mind?  You're blocking my view of the road.  She had a domain to reign over, which was how she regained her strength.

Later she posed for us in the iris bed and for a little while, the rules did not apply to her at all.

Then, our first morning back home, the great blue heron touched down briefly, balanced himself, then flew away.

Later I saw two of them flapping past.  I guess he's found his mate.

off to meet his girlfriend for a morning rendezvous

gold star if you can see him squatting down here looking more like a white duck than a majestic great blue heron

Simone and Priscilla at around two months of age

Thursday I took Zoe out to visit the shaman/poet and her dogs Kole and Zoe, the young blond version.  My friend wanted Zoe to meet the new additions to their family: a pair of lambs.

Zoe was born to herd, and my great regret was that I was never able to give her a sheep farm.  Once, when she was already about three or four years old, I took her out to the Cornell Extension Farm for a herding lesson.  She was too scared, at first, of these alien creatures.  I led her around the pen and she herded me instead, instructing me to stay close.

Meet the parents, and then some

But later, she watched through the fence and something deep and instinctive in her woke up.  For the past hour or so she had averted her gaze from the pen, from the other dogs practicing their herding moves, looking instead longingly at my car, but then she stared at those sheep anew.  I saw the wolf in her turn on like a light.  Her mouth opened.  Her teeth gleamed.  She was saying, Hmmm. . . . That's some nice-looking, plump sheep bootie over there.  I need to bite me some of that!  She begged to be asked for a second time in the ring, and when she went in there, she performed remarkably better.  I trilled with pride for her when I heard her telling them what was what and who was who in the grand scheme of things.

Baby Simone, the Black Sheep of the Family

Zoe watches the sheep from a distance

This is a good spot for contemplating the natural order of things.

The black dog and the black lamb in the lap have an intense visual encounter, while the other black dog supervises

Way beyond this side of the fence, Zoe bids adieu to young Priscilla

This week, however, she hung back for a while looking for a spot in the shaman/poet's lovely gardens where she could lounge in the shade and watch us love up the lambs from a safe distance.

But later, just when we were getting ready to go home, she ran up by herself to stare them down.  She just needs to come around to things on her own time.