“He that cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes…” The Old Testament.

Ashes to ashes. Zelda returned to the earth yesterday, a humble sheep but a large presence on this farm. We covered her grave with dirt and sod, in a few weeks there will be little trace of it, she will have returned to the earth.

The saying “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, ” is not really in the Bible, as conventional wisdom believes. The term is actually found in the Church of England’s Book Of Common Prayer.

It comes to mind all the time, especially on a farm.

In a few weeks we’ll remove the rocks from Red’s gravesite, and it woo, will soon be just a part of the pasture, back to the earth. We want to honor the animals who have meant so much to us, but we don’t want the pasture to become a graveyard.

On the farm, we observe the cycle of life and death almost continuously, we know that life goes on and on. Even if we wanted to, there’s only so much grieving to be done when one animal after another finishes it’s life and moves on.

And we don’t want to. I respect life.

I love normalcy, however short-lived it is, it is both healing and uplifting. The sheep were well aware of Zelda’s death yesterday, they watched the shooting and they paid special attention to the burial.

I think it’s good that the see all of it, it seems to settle them and enhance their acceptance. I have learned a lot about acceptance from the animals on the farm, they adapt, they move on, they move forward, they survive, they do not grieve.

Ten minutes after Zelda was buried, the other sheep, who lived so closely with her for so long, were out grazing in the South pasture. And good for them. They have living to do.

Same with me.