Today I want to talk about sheep. The calming affects of sheep.

As a person of welsh blood, I am used to the wise cracks about us and sheep, but sheep have depths unknown to most men.

In times of deep trouble, you can cuddle a cat, but they require feeding and have claws. In times of despair you can walk a dog, but they slobber and desire to have their stomachs tickled. When times are dark, you can sit with friends, but people always let you down. They get tired of listening, they see something they desire, they need food, they need to pee, and they talk about you behind your back. Not sheep.

Sheep, while shy, do have redeeming qualities. If you feel bad and need to express it out loud, go to a hillside full of sheep. People talk about wolves, but have you heard how lonely and tormented a sheep sounds across the air in a valley? Have you ever answered one back? It’s a sound you make from the back of your throat, and it comes from deep down.

If you try to communicate with sheep, they look at you funny. You may think this is because they are dumb, or think you are going to shear them or make them into a pie, but its not. It’s because they know that you know their secret.

If you get close to a sheep, you can sit down near it and tell it all your troubles, and they will chew and listen, and listen and chew, and then they will Baaaaaa…… in sympathy. You have to listen very hard to know what that is saying, but then the days are long up on the hills. Sheep have knowing eyes, and rather beautiful heads. They stick together for a good reason, but they are open to a relationship of sorts. They don’t want much. And when you are not good at giving with trust, a sheep is a good, solid companion.

In the dark, in the quiet, sheep tell stories and make up heroic verse, and they share it with the crows and badgers, and they take it with them to the grave.