And the seasons they go round and round and the painted ponies go up and down, we’re riding on a carousel of time – sometimes these words are never clearer then when embedded in the life of a farm. This week, we had a new baby born. He was three weeks late, and mom and he didn’t bond causing him to become a bottle fed baby. Calliope, our special needs alpaca friend, has lost eight pounds – likely meaning the end is near. She’s had a year most farms would never have given her, but our hearts are broken just the same – particularly my daughters. Abby’s first love on the farm was Ms. Calliope. I’m not sure if it was because she was small, sweet and easy to love, because she was different or simply because Abby has a caretaker’s heart and Calliope crawled in and nested beneath the tentacles of her being. Either way, it’s been a battle for her to learn of the heartbreak of falling in love and potentially losing a life. She understands, deep in the hidden recesses of her brilliant 12-year-old mind, that Calliope is sick, and we couldn’t adopt her and bring her home because we didn’t want her first experience to be so sad. In the end, it is still this sad, but at least Abby can go home to the safety of her greyhounds and cats and be surrounded by her friends. At least, she says, she won’t have to see the body removed. I agree. It’s part of the life of a farm and a human, really. We fall in love, people and animals die – it is the circle of life. Still, I wish she didn’t have to lose her furry buddy.

But, alas, she may, but she’ll also rebound and fall in love all over again. Likely with Salem, who she’s had the privilege of bottle feeding. Nothing like a tiny, black ,wiggling, ball of spindly legs landing in your lap with tongue going 100 miles an hour believing you are mommy. Somehow, that makes things easier. And Abby is nothing if quick to fall in love.

Today, we met an older woman at the gate. She came in driving a pick-up truck clearly on a mission. She was 110 pounds of dark haired, Italian speaking, fiery personality. Her name was Kathryn and she wanted an alpaca. She noted to me that she had wanted to have llamas and alpacas all of her life, but finances didn’t allow it. Her husband died in May – after 40 plus years of marriage she said – and his last words to her were “go buy your llama, live your dreams.” She is hoping to do so. She acknowledges that she is still deep in mourning for her husband as well as her lifetime dog who died less than a month ago, she said. She told me both of these stories with tears in her eyes and a lifetime of love in her heart. She told me I was doing the right thing to be living my dream so young, and she noted that she wished she and her husband had owned a llama together even if it meant boarding the animals outside of their home.

“Seeing your joy on this tour, hearing your hopefulness and your plans, has brightened this old ladies day,” she said. “I want two. I want them from here, and I want to take them home today.”

I showed her the animals for sale. She fell in love, and then she quietly got into her truck and drove away – alpaca less – noting she would return when her heart could handle more pain. Right now, she fears loving because her heart is raw. She acknowledged she will come to Plain View for daily kisses, but is not yet ready to own her own. She knew my Abby by name (apparently they had a lengthy conversation without me), and wished her well on her journey with Calliope. She knew what was in store, and wanted to spare Abby the pain and walk her through it as well. Where did this woman come from today? What led her to us? It matters not. Her heart needed us. Kathryn will be back to fall in love in good time…

Until then, she will come here, kiss Harry, hug Gunsmoke and share her stories. We’re all listening.

Editor’s Note: I own two alpacas which are currently boarded at Plain View Farm. The farm has a total of 39 alpacas and Abby and I spend much of our time there giving tours, visiting the animals and learning all there is to learn. It is our hope to have our own farm up and running within a few years. In the meantime, the stories I share are from the boarding farm, and Calliope is their animal.