All animals teach me acceptance, but the lessons of the old ones seem especially powerful. They are not aware of death, they do not fight against their place in life. No tests, medications, apart from the ones we give them. They do not try and prolong their lives beyond reason, as we do, and no one really profits from their aging, as whole industries profit from ours.

Few animals get to live to a natural old age, especially the livestock of farmers, or aging Appaloosa ponies. Rocky is 35 this year. These old sheep are nearly 80 in human years.  I am touched by their dignity and poise and try and learn from. Here at the farm, I am getting a lesson in acceptance and reality. Our farm has been on the market since December, and it has not yet sold. People say it is too hilly. Or there isn’t enough tillable land. Or it is too expensive. Our very capable realtor Kristin Preble says it is really a “Gentlemen’s Farm,” a term I hate, but understand.  It always seemed like a very real farm to me. It is, she says, a perfect place for a second home, or a primary home for someone who wants to live in a peaceful place with animals.

It never occurred to me – hubris, I think, that such a beautiful place with so much privacy, land, and a restored farmhouse and four restored barns would not disappear in a couple of weeks. We started out a $475,000 and have gone down to $399,000. Today, Maria and I talked about it – we know someone will love this place – but we want to accept the reality of our world. Many of our friends seem almost outraged that we are pricing the farm so low, and several have actually argued that we ought to raise the price, not lower it.

But that doesn’t seem right to us. When we recently lowered it, a whole bunch of people began asking about it. So we are lowering it some more. Kristin asked me how far I was willing to go. I am willing to lower it again, so we are. It is now down to $385,000, and we will not go lower than our move and fences and her studio will cost. That is how far I will go. . Maria and I are completely together on this.

We are closing soon on our new home, and I want to get on with it, with my life. We will not be able to do many of the things we wanted to do there, but we will get to them when we can, and that will be something to always look forward to. On this farm, I never delayed gratification. I did what I wanted. Time for this old sheep to learn something new.

Kristin seemed sorry, but I told her not to feel bad. This is the world we live in, and I believe in acceptance and reality, just as the old sheep do. I do not complain about the price of things, or the way things used to be, or real estate today. I love my life, and I want to love it every day, as it has done for me.