One curious side effect of Red’s retirement from sheepherding has been getting closer to the sheep. Whenever they saw me, there was a border collie around, and so there wasn’t much bonding between me and the sheep.

With Red off to the side or in the house, the sheep are curious about me and getting closer and easier around me. Sheep are smarter than people give them credit for, they seem to now I am suddenly safe, and that the big Red dog is not a threat any longer.

Several times a day I go out into the pasture by myself to check on the animals and make sure they have water and the fences are all solid. Today, Rosemary came right up to me and stuck her nose in my camera. Good girl, I said and she let me scratch her nose.

Life is curious in many ways, one is that for any single thing that occurs, there is always a reaction. I might even learn to love sheep.