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On A Personal Note...
You know we all like to make it sound like we are on top of the world with no worries and no cares...but unfortunately that is not the real world. We all face times when we are challenged or frustrated or both, for that matter. In the case of alpaca farming, like all farming activities, there are moments when we simply just have trouble coping with the realities of farm life, especially livestock farm life.
Recently we have had our share of "why us" moments. Just when we were patting ourselves on the backs for having such a healthy herd, a hammer hit...you see one of our prize herdsires, Nighthawk, began the fight of and for his life. Nighthawk's body had been invaded by a killer...the barberpole worm. Fortunately, we caught it just as death's door was opening. He now appears to be starting a long road back to good health.
Then just as we were finally catching our breath from this scare, a young fella, Legato's Legado began losing his footing and generally acting like he could not focus. With the good advice from our vet, we took him to the University Vet Hospital...Lagado has undergone numerous tests and has offered up one puzzle after another concerning his overall condition. We are working with UGA to uncover the pieces that will tell us how he, and other alpacas in the future, can benefit...you see, Lagado has a seemingly rare heart problem. Rare in that his heart appears fine, but for some reason it is not operating at full capacity. We have supplied a very healthy young fella, Pride, to provide that counter balance between his robust heart, and Lagado's apparent, not so robust heart.
Why am I sharing these "bad" things with you all??? Well, for one thing that is what you do with friends, and family you know. You share the bad with the good...you do not just make everything sound wonderful to suck someone into a situation that may not be good for them. Hopefully, with full knowledge and the sharing of that knowledge, we will let folks know that life can still be grand even with awful moments mixed into the mix, you see. That in a nutshell is where I want to go with this...working with the livestock known as alpaca is not always "peachy keen", but the rewards sure outweigh the "awfuls" and that is a fact! Life is that way, don't you think?
I find I can take a lot from the things I am learning from our alpaca friends, and apply it to my other life...that is a life with "lifestock"...people that is! :o) Some people tend to lead others around with misleading "facts" that could, and often does, place the 'others' in difficult situations. This is especially true in our political world here in the good ol' U.S.A. It seems some of us are infected by a "barber pole worm" of our own, and the unfortunate thing is that the worm has turned so often, that now it is immune to the only cure known...honesty.
Maybe we need to search for our heart of champions...once found, maybe, just maybe, we will begin to get our focus again.
I do know one thing that I have learned these past two weeks...that is the fact that I really enjoy our coffee, no matter what. It seems we have been doing a bit more coffee drinking as of late...probably has something to do with the "of late" happenings. Just glad we have a ready supply of good ol' The Alpaca Bean Coffee on hand for all occasions...and that I can share with you this Irish Blessing for all time:
"May the road rise up to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face
And the rain fall soft upon your fields
And until we meet again
May God hold you in the palm of his hand"
Peace,
The Coffeeman
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