Llama Tails. Life with Llamas and Other Ruminations

We Shall Not Forget Forever

2009-09-11T20:51:00.000-07:00

Running of the Llamas

2009-09-11T19:35:00.000-07:00

The news article and the video just speak for themselves so why embelish?
http://www.therunningofthellamas.com/
www.twincities.com
http://www.twincities.com/ci_13312170

The Sport of Kings? Not really, but don't tell the llamas that
Wisconsin community takes its goofy annual race to heart
By Andy Rathbun
arathbun@pioneerpress.com
Updated: 09/11/2009 01:30:14 AM CDT

Photo courtesy of Michele Lyksett of Central St. Croix News. Anna Hartliep runs with El Corazon to a first place finish during the 2007 Running of the Llamas in Hammond, Wis. Hartliep traveled from Milwaukee on her birthday to run with the llama, which has run in the festival every year since it started in 1997. El Corazon is a llama to be feared.

Feared, though, only if you're a llama hungering for victory this weekend during the Running of the Llamas in Hammond, Wis. El Corazon, a 15-year-old gelding, is the llama with the most wins in the event's history.

"He's got a good gait, and he likes a crowd," said owner Sheila Fugina, of New Richmond.

El Corazon — Spanish for "The Heart" — is one of 12 llamas that will compete in Saturday's race. The three-time champ will have plenty of fans as crowds gather along the streets of downtown Hammond — about 35 miles east of the Twin Cities — to watch the llamas run with their handlers.

It's the 13th year of the event, which, like so many wild ideas, got started with a beer.

Paul Kremer, owner of Dick's Bar and Grill in Hudson, crafted a beer years ago that sported a llama on its label. He adopted the llama as his mascot and began holding a one-block llama run to raise money for cerebral palsy.

"People giggled and laughed and thought it was the silliest thing they ever saw," Kremer said.

After taking over the Hammond Hotel, he came up with the idea of the "Running of the Llamas."

"We really tried to focus on family and make it a total community event," said Kremer, who sold the Hammond Hotel last year.

The hotel's new owner, Don Fowell, moved this year's event from Thursday to Saturday, which he hopes will double attendance from a high of about 800 people. Also new this year is a

weekend roster of activities starting today in conjunction with the race. There will be a rib festival, live music, parade, and other activities for kids, including crafts involving llama hair.
It's the llama's coat that the animal is bred for, said Fugina, who heads up Shady Ridge Farm. The hair — commonly called llama "fiber" — can be used much like sheep's wool in clothing and other products.

There are a surprising number of farms in western Wisconsin raising llamas for

their fiber, said Fugina, who added that the state ranks in the top 10 of llama-producing states in the country.
Llamas are ideal for small farms and do very well around humans, she said. But as more people buy them, more llamas are found needing help, especially in these economic times.

"People are abandoning their foreclosed farms and leaving their animals on them, sometimes including llamas," said Fugina, who also runs the National Lama Intervention & Rescue Coordination Council.

While llamas may not be as graceful or as fast to start as horses, they can move quickly — about the speed of deer, said Fugina. They're fast enough to sometimes outrun their handlers, who occasionally take a spill during the races.

Llamas can also be temperamental, running only if they feel so inclined that day, said Fugina. Seeing other llamas running can get them going, however, and some, like El Corazon, enjoy performing for a crowd.

The race, which begins at 3 p.m., lasts about an hour and features four heats of three llamas. The winning llama, not the handler, gets the grand prize — a bouquet of assorted vegetables to munch on.

"They just think it's a hoot," said Fowell of the race's spectators. "They're just dumbfounded that it's this much fun."

Fugina expects El Corazon to have a decent chance of taking home the carrots and celery this year, though his past wins have gone to his head a bit.

"He thinks he's pretty good," she said.

Andy Rathbun can be reached at 651-228-2121

ONLINE

The trailer for a 30-minute documentary on the race can be found at youtube.com/user/pangolinpix.

"El Corazon," handled by Anna Hartliep, heads for a first-place finish in the 2007 "Running of the Llamas'' in Hammond, Wis. El Corazon will compete again Saturday in the 13th annual event.

IF YOU GO

For information about the race and other events surrounding the Running of the Llamas, go online to therunningofthellamas.com.

Hardly what you might find on a llama page

2009-08-23T15:35:00.000-07:00

While it is far from traditional, once you have clicked on play, close your eyes for a moment, think of the passion that comes with the music, and then admire the child who seems to me at least to fully understand just what those 24 simple notes mean.

Llamas Take Golfers for a Walk

2009-08-16T19:47:00.000-07:00

There is nothing quite as wonderful as watching people learn the magic of llamas and all they are capable of doing.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Baby Llamas and Flashbacks

2009-08-09T07:47:00.000-07:00

Its been just a little over a year but had to share some of the photos once again of our darling girl Amarosa Rosa.

But you really need to watch it to the end, where she decides to torment Dahli who is NOT her mother, and observe the constant and predicatable gentility Dahli shows and has always shown to babies.

Stay tuned for more on Rosa now that she has grown!!!

New Medicine Found for Treating Alpacas with Ulcers

2009-07-26T07:45:00.000-07:00

New Medicine Found for Treating Alpacas with Ulcers

The text of this article and the links contained within provide more than just a small glimmer of hope for camelid owners.

Llamas, Hay, Freedom, and Other Ramblings on a Sunday Morning

2009-07-05T07:54:00.000-07:00

Well it’s that time around here finally.

The weather broke for real, and the first loads of hay are hauled. Moved 10+ tons into storage and the good news was prices are definitely down from last year. Not as far as I would have like to see from our hay guy, but that’s ok. Still holding at 200 a ton. I even found some amazing stuff locally in mid May from the feed store that was about that same price.

I’m nursing a few interesting friction blisters and some muscles I didn’t know existed much less could hurt [even more than there were last year], but it’s always a comfort having the barn full. I even had to pull my wedding band off, had a blister UNDER it. Yeah I know, wear gloves, but some old dogs just really never learn.

Here’s hoping the prices hold, and we get a bit of rain off and on for a while. It’s been 8 weeks without any measurable precipitation, and while us PNW folks complain about the weather as a rule regardless of what it is, upper 80’s and low 90’s on this side of the hills is bit disquieting for June and July. Our hay guy irrigates, and of course the more he has to irrigate, the greater the risk of prices going up.

The boys pastures are pretty much cooked out right now, and though it’s essentially standing hay, it won’t be long before I’ll have to start throwing hay at them as more than just dry matter if we stay as dry as we are.

The girls’ fans are on timers, the boys roof sprinklers are up and running, and almost everyone who has to be sheared has been sheared. That’s part of today’s projects.

They claim today will be the last of the comparatively hot weather for us for a week, but they aren’t talking about rain, just temps back to what we consider survival mode. Tipper [16] and Buckskin LOVE the heat, and as usual scare the daylight out of me on a regular basis. Tipper is eastern Oregon born and raised, and still thinks 90 degree summers and 2 feet of snow in the winter is cause for celebration. Buckskin is Montana born and raised and thrives on those extremes.

We survived the fireworks torment and terrors that come with the fourth of July. We had to bring Gracie [Pyr] in the house at dusk; she does not do fireworks or thunder. Then around 10 last night Yogi and Luna had had enough of the torment and were freaking out with Gracie gone, so they came in for the night. Made for a very crowded gathering in the house.

Usually folks around here are relatively intelligent about fireworks and dry land issues, but this year seemed worse than ever. I always tend to stay outside during the fireworks hours with tractor ready to blow and go and cut firebreaks if needed. This year it was so bad, you could literally see and smell the burnt powder from people setting stuff off hanging the air, and it was a crystal clear night with almost a full moon.

I enjoy the moment July 4th provides to celebrate the power of the freedoms we enjoy; just wish there was another way to celebrate without letting idiots playing with matches and gunpowder.

Just some early morning ramblings from a guy who obviously just keeps getting older and grumpier with each passing year before I head out to do some more shearing.

Lilly the Llama a Battle against Odds

2009-05-28T19:27:00.000-07:00

Her whole story starts long before the wonderfully dedicated people from Midwest Farm Animal Rescue in Wisconsin were contacted to help out with what they thought was just a little injury in a llama. Well it turned out to much much worse. But they, and Lilly have not given up.

PLEASE take the time to read the story about Lilly's courage so far.

There is nothing more heartbreaking while at the same time soul inspiring than watching humans and animals work in harmony to overcome obstacles for survival.

Lilly's story is best told by the people who have committed themselves to making the end of this story as sucessful as possible for Lilly.

Perhaps the most exciting piece of news recieved today is that Lilly is home, recovering and now eating! Time and dedication will drive her recovery now.

Unfortunately as you read her story, there is also the ugly harsh realities of money spent for her surgery and post surgical expenses.

You will find that reality also shared on the pages being dedicated to her by the people at Midwest Farm Animal Rescue.

It's alway a bad time to ask for money, and with the economy and people's lives in the kind of turmoil it is in now, it is doubly difficult.

As a family faced with many of the same hardships this economy is presenting to all of us, we found some money stashed away to help. And so I hope can you.

Northeast Llama Rescue: Rescue News: Nineteen Llama Newcomers

2009-03-21T07:54:00.000-07:00

Northeast Llama Rescue: Rescue News: Nineteen Llama Newcomers

It doesn't matter, West Coast, East Coast or anywhere in between, the need often comes close to totally overwhelming the available resources, but great people continue to step up, and continue to fight the honest fight.

For another intense perspective, complete with photos please feel free to visit one of my favorite animal and farm blogger's site. Teri Conroy is as gifted with words as she is with animals.

Llamas Rescued for Now

2009-03-15T16:42:00.000-07:00

Today was supposed to be a good day and when all was said and done it ended that way.

Woke up to rain that quickly and I do indeed mean QUICKLY turned to snow. I am up without fail very close to 5am as a rule, and by 6 it was snowing. By 6:30 the satellite dish transponder was covered with snow, so
Up on the rooftop
Click, click, click
Down thru the chimney with
Good Saint Nick went I...
But unlike Good Saint Nick nearly slid my way back down again. Our woodstove chimney was the only thing that kept me up there.
AND today of all days the Danby Rd Llama Girls were to finally leave their horse stall life for the past 3 plus weeks to a foster home.

Well by 7am there was 4" of snow on the ground with no real indication of letting up. By 10:30 the temperatures were moderating and it had stopped snowing and changed to rain.
Grabbed Chloe, hooked up the horse trailer and down the road we went to re-locate the Danby girls to their new for now and probably knock wood forever home.

Below find them discovering their new digs. They have a bit more than 4 acres to romp on, and I do wish that I had taken my video camera with me to share with you their excitment over being out in the open for the first time in 3 plus weeks! ALL of them spent 20 minutes or more exploring the fence line, then just started jumping and snorting and pronking with the spirit and magic that only those who have watched or own llamas can knowing and cherish. Their new care giver was attentive to every answer to every question she asked and she asked ALL the right questions. Their shelter is a touch smaller than might be 'perfect', but it is solid, built against the weather and will accomodate all 4. We talked about the roughened concrete floor and the need for deep bedding preferably straw, and she immediately went and got 2 bales of HAY to put down because "I don't have any straw right now, and something is better than nothing".

It soften the edges a bit for me, and I know for Chloe over losing Sunny yesterday. This woman knows nothing about llamas, has never owned or interacted with them, but her heart and soul is in the right place and she has all the tools and basic skills to get them healthier than they are now, and wants to learn.

I will take that for now.

How hard the soul

2009-03-14T19:30:00.001-07:00

LW Someone Wonderful

Born September 15 1993, died March 14 2009..... at my hands.

And what was left of my soul passed with her passing and the act I committed.

Her favorite phrase during her last days with us was 'SCRATCHES'. With that word she simply stood and waited for every inch of her to be scratched and rubbed as the tickle reflex kicked in and she lipped in shear joy and relief from the pain the cancer was causing.

I have been angry and grief stricken in the past as the llamas have come and gone, and now there is nothing left but numb, down to the deepest place the soul should reside.

And now, I suppose I am in mourning for myself and for the death, I fear, of my soul.

Llamas need love, too - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

2009-03-08T09:24:00.001-07:00

Llamas need love, too - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Posted using ShareThis

There isn't really much tos ay about a set of articles like this other than the power and compassion of local people helping locally can and always does have endings that make you smile. Read both postings. Here's the happy ending.

Happy trails for llamas - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

2009-03-08T09:23:00.001-07:00

Happy trails for llamas - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Posted using ShareThis

Llama Rescuers

2009-03-08T08:18:00.000-07:00

So answer me this riddle dear reader, are people who rescue llamas heroes--- or fools? And of course, when you look at the picture above or any of the thousands upon thousands of pictures of any abused animal splashed across the news media, and the Internet the answer would seem simple.

OF COURSE THEY ARE HEROES!

As you read this, there is anger and angst and frustration and penetrating accusations that will no doubt get me into trouble should anyone from the greater llama community be one of the few if any readers who stumble on my blog, but at this moment I truly do not care. Llama rescue should be a part of every llama breeders committement to the animals they make money from... it just isn't.

Since I have only my experiences with llama rescue to fall back on, I will look at how THAT WORLD has moved in a direction that for me has crossed the fail-safe line. Though actually my involvement with llamas only is not completely true; many of my most recent legal encounters with animal rescue and legal impounds has also included sheep, goats, and horses. No I don't have direct involvement with those animals when they have been seized, but act collaboratively with several formal animal rescue organizations that do. Most common of those is Hooved Animal Rescue of Thurston County [Washington]

I'm the llama guy in that group who is supposed to be able to pull a rabbit out of my hat and find foster homes and eventually adoptive homes for the animals that have been seized. Sometimes you get lucky and the person who used to own the llama actually takes THEM BACK. Once, just once this has happened to me. Bolivian Legend K was taken back by its owner, Hola died after fighting for 45 days to stay alive. The owner was convicted of first degree animal cruelty.

I wander from the point, but here it is in its most raw and unfortunate truth. And just to make the point yes I will use ALL CAPS.

IF YOU ARE AN ANIMAL BREEDER OR JUST A LLAMA OWNER WHO BELIEVES A COMPONENT OF BREEDING OR JUST OWNING LLAMAS IS ALSO RESCUING, THEN BE PREPARED TO BE INUNDATED AND EXPECTED TO CLEAN UP EVERY ONE'S MESSES. BE PREPARED ALSO TO BE LABELLED AS THE PERSON WHO 'DOES RESCUE'.

And if that sounds bitter and angry and resentful, then yes I am bitter and angry and resentful. I resent the fact that a recent article in the Sacramento Bee contacted a well known California llama breeder and among her comments included the fact that she 'doesn't do rescue', she refers people to me. Like I am supposed to solve a problem more than 600 miles away with a wave of a magic wand. But if you read a few other cross link posts I made recently, the local newspaper with help from some people who cared and don't even own llamas did solve!

Once upon a time, people with compassion would step up and take in a llama or two or three, until they were full up, while others would offer financial assistance to real non profit groups and organizations to help. From there it evolved into a world of hand wringing and comments like 'how awful' and 'good for you'. And NOW at least in my limited world, people don't even comment. The whys of it I am sure are as varied as the people who know but have chosen to do nothing, and the economic crisis WE ALL FACE, myself included, certainly is not helping things, but... these animals are not at fault. They just need and want a place to live out their lives with little if any expectations from the humans who only need to provide the most basic minimum of care.

Not all that long ago there was a small group of llamas that were living in less than desirable situation, though the legal authorities would not take any action. The woman who was interested in trying to find new homes for them, though a bit overly aggressive about her methods, was sincere and caring and correct; these animals did not need to live the way they were living and were in fact very much at risk.

Two, count them TWO very, very well known llama owners, breeders, exhibitors and activists in promoting llamas in the Pacific Northwest found the perfect solution for them. They told her to BUY THEM, THEN TRANSPORT THEM AND WE WILL SHOOT THEM!! She fortunately ignored that option, but just barely, and now by the end of this month all of them will have the opportunity to live out their lives homes in Montana. The theory from the two genocide oriented "Rescue Advocates", and I use that term lightly and with great disdain, was these are just throw away llamas and contribute nothing to the 'greater good' of llamas.

But what a great solution. Just think, I could walk out into my pasture right now and with little to no expense of any kind, I could reduce the animals living with me by half. All I would have to do is dig a huge hole and SHOOT 15 llamas. It would reduce my hay and feed bill by more than half, I wouldn't have to worry about the issues of shelter, and vet bills, and shearing time, and toe trimming. I would have more time to play and enjoy the llamas we have bred and bought. My back wouldn't hurt as much daily, my knees and shoulders wouldn't ache constantly from the torn tendons and ligaments repaired in all the joints, and because I wouldn't be doing rescue anymore, wouldn't get the phone calls while working, turning my day from a simple 10 hour work day to a 16 plus day helping to round up llamas standing knee deep in mud next to sheep with lungworms and rotting feet. I wouldn't be getting the call in the middle of the night from the Sheriff department about a llama running loose in the street and could I come help them round them up.

ALL IN ALL MY LIFE WOULD BE SIMPLER.

The most recent large animal seizure in Thurston County was shown on KOMO TV
And on KIRO TV

The video footage barely touches on the horrid conditions the sheep were in. The goats were not much better, and the llamas definitely show the impact of their prolonged neglect.

BUT ALL OF THE LIVING SHEEP AND GOATS NEEDING FOSTER HOMES DURING THE FIRST ROUND OF SEIZURES HAD FOSTER HOMES WITHIN DAYS OF THE IMPOUND.

And the llama community has turned their heads and wrung their hands and the 4 llamas are still living in two horse stalls more than 2 weeks later. They have been triaged diligently, and some folks from the sheep and goat world have offered to take them in as foster and eventual adoptive llamas, but even they haven't followed through.

So on March 12, 2009 unless the owner of these animals either petitions the court for return of the animals, or posts what is often called a 'care bond', these animals will automatically be forfeited and will be available for adoption OR CAN BE EUTHANIZED. I have not known that to happen, but there is absolutely nothing to prevent it short of someone, anyone with a little land, some good fencing, and a willingness to foster these animals from stepping up and taking them in.

I don't expect that anything I do will stop the wave of llama rescue that has overwhelmed the rapidly shrinking base of people willing to help. I don't expect more people to step up, and heaven knows I don't expect any llama association on a national or local level to take an active and agressive approach to llama rescue; ask them and they will tell you in almost one voice 'its not our job'. There is one organization, solid, strong and I am proud to say am a part of that does have a component of its organization that looks at TRYING to best of its ability to help with llama rescue. The Llama Association of North America has a committee called Lama Lifeline I am the prime initial contact point for Lifeline, and will continue to be for now.

But I digress again. For now, these four girls waiting in horse stalls for their final fate only one of whom actually has a name that we know of will continue to wait without a thought or care in the world other than to stay alive. Oh by the way, the llama with a name is Gerry Blossom, the appy faced girl in the slideshow. Her partner in the stall is confirmed to be her daughter, and I have no clue who the other two are; for now they just have numbers on a chart being used to follow their care processes.

Regardless of the outcome for these 4 girls, I will follow through on them. IF someone, anyone steps up to add their gentle caring loving nature to their lives I will trim their toes for free, shear them for free, and guide and coach the new owners for as long as they want on care, and handling.

And if their lives are cut short because no one wants to care for them, I will hold their heads in my lap as they are put to death should it come to that...then I too will be done with llama rescue. It will be too much. I have held way too many llamas in my lap that have died or been euthanized because of real quality of life issues to watch perfectly healthy and happy animals be destroyed because they are just one more mouth to feed.

So answer me this riddle dear reader should there be any, are llama rescuers heroes or fools.....

Eagle Economics

2009-03-07T17:53:00.000-08:00

Bald Eagles are truly incredible and magnificent creatures. Obviously not the same as llamas but they are in the same class of brilliance, dedication to each other, and an obvious passion and enjoyment of their own existence.

The economy being what it is, you take work when and where it is. So for the past two months I have been working as a road construction flagger just outside of Bremerton Washington in this weird little 'Bermuda Triangle' of Gorst [yes its spelled correctly], Port Orchard, and Bremerton. It's a quiet neighborhood area and the traffic is relatively light with all same people coming and going several times during the day. They stop to chat occasionally, and one of the more obviously affluent and dare I say arrogant to the extreme women that come by daily actually asked me if I liked being a flagger in a tone that came across as usual for her as if I was something she would scrape off the bottom of her 200 dollar shoes. And so the answer was a somewhat less than polite "not only no, but [explective of your choice] no."

View Larger Map

Now you really want to zoom in on a larger map and look closely at where Anderson Hill Rd literally drops into and off of SR16. That's where we have been working for past three weeks from there UP the hill towards Hansen Rd. No big deal and it doesn't give you a good idea of what's going on, but its a sewer installation job down the middle of the road.

ANYWAY, when you look at the map at the intersection of Cook Rd and Anderson Hill Rd you will see a HUGE looking lawn with nothing on it at all. To the left of that field you will see a row of trees leading away from the highway.

AND SMACK IN THE MIDDLE of that row of trees is a multi trunked 250 foot plus tall Douglas fir tree with an eagles nest in it. Bert and Ernie live up there, and yes I know they are a pair, but that's my names for them so live with it.

What you need to know about Bremerton Washington is that its claim to fame is its naval shipyard with all sorts of aircraft carriers and other Navy ships on site regularly. From their vantage point, the eagles have a clear and constant line of sight view of every ship docked or moored or coming or going. Now I suppose I could make all sorts of metaphorical references to the presence of eagles overlooking the ships, and how they act as a symbol of the freedom and protection our military provides every American citizen. But guess what folks.... the eagles don't care.

They have their own world of economics, loyalty and survival. I have watched them now for more than two months and their routines are incredible and efficient. EVERY morning, one of them flies out of the nest on to the very top of the tree and hangs out looking across the bay, then up the hill to the house with all the chickens, and even eyeballs the wayward cats that wander around all day long. No there will be no graphic tales here.

I have watched them greet what must have been last years offspring with a mixture of recognition and rejection, clearly showing and stating that yes you WERE ours, but now you are on your own, its time for another hatching. I have watched them PLAY, literally in mid air, swooping and diving around and at each other. And I got to watch them breed several weeks ago first in mid air, then finishing I suppose what they started rather quickly high in the top of nearby tree.

I have watched them fly circles around the alder and fir trees for several minutes looking carefully for just the right branch or limb that they needed for reasons only known to them, then dive into the trees, grab it with their talons and swoop it off into their nest to add to it. It is quite something to see an eagle with a limb in its talon flying across that open field area. Many of those limbs are what most of us might call kindling firewood, they are that big. And its obviously not just a random grabbing. It's orchestrated. One will land with the limb, and the other one, soars off almost at the exact same time to go get something else to add to the nest. During the low tides, they swoop down into the bay and pluck up grasses to add to the nest.

I have watched them violently defend their nest and territory against a wayward great horned owl. That was an amazing thing to see and hear. Just like a llama alarm call I heard this noise that was not something you could confuse with anything but an alarm... AND I WEAR EARPLUGS on the job. As I looked up there was the owl flying by looking for a place to land. And out of absolutely no where the second eagle came flying in, wings partially folded at break neck speed heading straight for the owl. The other eagle flew out of the nest and perched up on the top of the tree and they literally took turns tag teaming this poor owl. As soon as it would dodge one eagle, the other would swoop down at it in the same break neck dive, while the first recovered from its dive and perched screaming on the top of the tree. And this went on for almost 15 minutes as they chased this owl off to a distance of more than a mile that I could see.

But it was orchestrated, it was choreographed and it was efficient. Like the llamas I love and adore, they have a bond that even from the distance offered to us is clear and evident and they will fight to survive not for some high minded sense of morality but for the sake of life and survival itself. And it doesn't come from complicated moral values or issues of freedom or equality or justice; it just is their raison d'être.

So what's the lesson to be learned? There unfortunately is none. We humans are faced in this country and the world with an economic crisis some liken to the panic of the 1970's while still others the Great Depression. Take your pick, it really doesn't matter, things are bad, real bad and will get worse. The bottom line for us puny humans in the trenches is much like my two eagles; the need to focus on survival has become of paramount importance.

But unlike the eagles, whose lives seem to have point and focus and pattern and comfort of sorts, we have created a life as humans that have made almost every aspect of survival as we know it totally and completely dependent on a complicated woven pattern of a magnitude and scope that makes even the simplest thing like the computer or cell phone or pda you are reading this on over and above anything related to survival, but WE think it is.

And that is our downfall.

Speed of progression to the precipice of collapse is being measured in terms that when all is said and done has nothing to do with the basics of survival, but again WE think it is.

Bert and Ernie, my eagles, will continue building their nest, and will eventually lay one or two eggs and I will be long gone and off to some other grand adventure standing in the middle of the road flipping a sign to stay one step ahead of all the people who stand in line with their hands out for money. They won't care if unemployment is 4% or 14% or 40%; it doesn't matter to their lives. They won't care if the Dow Jones industrial average is 6000 or 60000; it doesn't matter to their lives.

But for now, I watch my eagles and envy the simplicity of their lives. I have no pretense that their existence is hard, it is in fact much harder than mine in many aspects down to the most fundamental core of living or dying on any given day, but their methodology, their processes, and their way of dealing with their existence leaves much to be envied.

And I do.

Bailout Help for the Less Fortunate

2009-02-06T11:20:00.000-08:00

In this time of economic disaster facing everyone at all levels of our country it is important above all else to attempt to maintain a sense of humor. SO.... with tongue planted FIRMLY IN CHEEK I submit for your perusal:

Llamas in the Winter Snows 2008

2008-12-18T18:20:00.000-08:00

Well when you sit around in a place like Olympia Washington and all it does for 5 days is get bone chilling cold by our standards and just keeps on snowing, you might as well take out the camera and have a little fun.

So of course that's exactly what I did, and Chloe did, and some of our friends did, and bingo, llamas in the winter snow slide show. It's been a bumpy ride for us Western Washingtonians who have 42 different kinds of rain, but call snow just SNOW and panic at the thought. They tell us that potentially it will get significantly worse before it gets better with increasing winds that may make the wind storm from a few years back look tame. I REALLY hope they are wrong. Lots of mixed messages on the weather right now, so we just prepare for the worst and hope and pray they are all wrong. They've been wrong before, but lately they are right more often than not. And in this case that's not a good thing!!!!

JUST NO TIME TO WAIT

2008-11-24T08:23:00.000-08:00

http://www.millerfarms.net/us/specialevents.html

And what actually happened was overwhelming, poignant and more than just a bit scary:

http://www.millerfarms.net/us/specialevents.html

An estimated 40,000 people showed up and 600,000 lbs of food were picked clean in one day forcing the farm to essentially cancel the Sunday event.
There has been a frenzy of talk about bank bailouts, the stock market issues, but an almost peripheral focus on PEOPLE being impacted.
You see a blip here and there about the banker walking parts of downtown NY with his resume on a billboard, and of course LOTS of news about unemployment RATES, and foreclosure RATES, but rates aren’t people.

Gets spooky when you read stuff like this. And we aren’t talking about a fancy food give-away, we talking spuds, carrots, onions and leeks.

The farm owners decided to do this “…after hearing reports of food being stolen from local churches and it was meant as a thank you for customers.” [AP November 23].

Sorry but it shakes me up more than just a little when you hear about stuff like this.

This summer I offered our surplus blackberries for free picking to folks who wanted to treat their kids to some fresh fruit but couldn’t. There are acres of land behind and along-side us loaded with blackberries. I posted it on a local ‘freecycle’ list no strings attached just asking that the people who contacted me REALLY need that. I had over 100 families contact me and literally it too was picked clean. I wound up taking the tractor out and mowing paths through the brambles to keep access available.

I have no idea where we as a country are heading as the economy does what it is doing, but when you hear things like ‘When he takes office, President Elect Obama will come out swinging because there is no time to wait’, I keep struggling with one HUGE question.

IF there is no time to wait, WHY is Congress and all the people who are STILL IN CHARGE of running this country, willing to continue to let the American people in a very, very, very real micro sense wait and watch their individual worlds deteriorate faster than they can adjust? It is an obscenity.

I made the mistake of reading a news article about a comparison to unemployment issues in the GREAT DEPRESSION vs what is projected to be a bottom line before anything even begins to turn a corner in this country now. Unemployment reached an estimated 25% during the depression, and it is suggested by some that it will hit ONLY 8-10% before things settle out. So lets do the math just for perspective. Estimate population in 1929 in this country was about 122 million people. 25% is 30.5 MILLION people. Current population estimates place us at over 305 million people. SO….10% is still TA-DA 30.5 MILLION people.

YABUTT that still means lots of people are working so it’s not that bad. UNLESS you happen to be one of those who aren’t, unless you happen to be the child of one of those out of work, unless you happen to be the wife or husband of one of those out of work. Unless you are trying to figure out just how tomorrow’s bills will be paid, unless you are looking at the gallon of milk in the fridge half empty and there is no half full, half empty philosophy- the damned thing is half-empty and it will run out.

There just is NO TIME TO WAIT. I am not a political creature by nature, but its beyond obvious that the next Administration and the NEXT Congress in both houses are going to wait. They have announced PUBLICLY and PROUDLY that on January 21 PRESIDENT Obama and his cabinet and staff WILL announce a major, dramatic, overwhelming and decisive attack on the economic turmoil slamming this country.

I am also not an economist, but the time left between now and then [January 21] is about the same amount of time it took the entire banking, stock market, unemployment, and auto industry crisis to unravel. THERE IS NO TIME TO WAIT.

The people who own Miller Farm knew that, the people who run food banks, and staff unemployment and job search offices know that, so why is our governmental leadership so willing to continue to let PEOPLE continue to try and struggle just to make it to tomorrow?

Ah yea, one last thought before ending this diatribe. Retailers, big, small and everyone in the middle live and die based on what happens in their sales revenues between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Well that happens long before January 21. Anyone want to bet on the outcome?

But will it work?
Not about llamas.

Yes Virginia there IS a Santa Claus

2008-11-09T09:29:00.000-08:00

I have no clue why this grabbed me, and it of course has nothing to do with llamas, but the season is swirling about us, and this year may be the one where the meaning of simplicity in life will require focus of celebration. So without further comment, the original text of the original story of Virginia and Santa Claus. Yes I know TWO posts on the same day, amazing eh?

Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus
By Francis P. Church, first published in The New York Sun in 1897. [See The People’s Almanac, pp. 1358–9.]

We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:

Dear Editor—

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?
Virginia O’Hanlon

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Llamas NOT for Obama or McCain or Anyone Else Apparently

2008-11-08T08:29:00.000-08:00

Everybody it seems does a llamas obama blog mostly I suppose because it just rolls off your tongue. We own llamas, and now we will indeed have a President named Obama, so what better way to share with you what our LLAMAS think about the world of politics as it stands to date.

As you know from my last posting I am commuting of late and have had very little time to much of anything with the llamas the past two weeks.
I leave in the dark and get home in dark with just enough time to go to bed.

BUT.....
On election day I was home relatively early and got to see both speeches
by the major candidates as the results made it clear that Sen Obama was going to be our next President of the United States.

Full video John McCain

Full video Barack Obama

Both speeches were full of powerful emotions and recognized fully the intensity and potential catastrophic impacts the issues facing our nation are and will have on all our lives. I was impressed with Senator McCain's comments, and quite overwhelmed by now President Elect Obama's recognition of the power of the moment, its implications, and the uphill struggle this country will face in the months and years ahead. The single most overlooked phrase in his entire speech came quietly and I am just paraphrasing, but essentially he said the problems particularly with the economy did not happen overnight and would not be solved overnight, maybe not even in ONE TERM OF OFFICE.

Given I still had time on my hands before I had to go to sleep I wandered out to visit briefly with the girls. Those of you that own llamas know that once they have settled down for the night, they tend to take umbrage to being disturbed. First, they have had a busy day eating, sleeping, playing, aimlessly wandering around, playing, sleeping, and occasionally wandering into a shelter not only to eat some more, but to prove to me that no matter how much I clean it up, poop happens. Second, its nightime and after an exhausting day all they want to do is hunker down and sleep. It is also a rare thing for us to invade their lives after dark, which means we have disrupted their routine, and disrupting the routine of llamas is and act of sacrilege.

But this was one of those moments in history that requires contemplation and perspective so what better way to gain perspective than to share what is being billed as a major turning point in national, international, and human history with the llamas. After all it will impact them as well right?

They were all hunkered down and calmly watching the rains at night one of a rather significant rain storm, chewing their collective cuds, and giving me looks of disdain for intruding on their night-time routine, but they also were quite obviously aware that I had come to visit with a message of exceptional importance. All eyes and ears were focussed on me, no one jumped up and ran away.

The girls were in their usual groups in the shelters mixed and matched by age. Most of the elder girls gather in 'their' shelter so I that is where I decided to start with sharing the news in order to get the proper elder perspective.

I was amazed at their reactions to the announcement that Obama had won the election. Rachel stood up, turned around and kushed right back in the same place with her back to me. Sunny yawned, chewed on a foot that had an itch, and Tipper sneezed. Most certainly NOT the reaction the rest of the world was having.

So I asked them ok girls who exactly did you want to win the election?
And it was Rachel who looked over her shoulder and spoke for the llamas.
"Oh dear fool', she said, "it really doesn't matter in the scheme of the universe because Earth Abides ." She paused briefly and looked at the roof of the shelter before continuing.

"But since you have asked here's what we all think. You may not know this, but we knew there was an election, our hearing is incredible and while you and Chloe watch TV we hear it, when you are in the pastures talking we listen, so of course we form opinions about what it is you think. Obviously there are some problems in the world that are impacting your existence and so it effects us. The problems right now apparently are LARGE. The bar is set high, very high for anyone who would win this election thing, and as a group we have decided it didn't matter who won. The bar is too high for any magic wand solutions. The worst of it all, and please listen carefully to this, THE PROBLEM NOW THAT OBAMA HAS WON THE ELECTION by a huge overwhelming mandate for change is that the bar, already incredibly high, has just been raised by you, by the media and by President Elect Obama to a height that even I couldn't jump over." And she stopped talking.
Sunny chimed in. "You expect instant results, expect instant gratification, expect instant solutions, expect it all NOW" And she stood up and faced me. "I have watched you use all the technology things that come up and are supposed to make you more connected with the world and make your lives easier and give you more time to enjoy the simple things in life. Well if you haven't noticed, there are no simple things left in life for you humans. You have sucked the simplicity out of your lives, and you don't even know it." She turned away in disgust with me.

And NOW it was Tipper's turn to share the wisdom. "We are NOT llamas for Obama, or llamas for McCain, or even llamas for any one else. You need to understand that we are llamas for llamas. Not for any of the constructs you want us to have, but for our own. Your problems are by side note our problems, but what Obama does or doesn't do isn't going to make our lives noticably better, or simpler, it will just be one more thing happening around us, that we have no control over. And in fact it is important to understand that no ONE PERSON can make the kinds of differences in the world that you and the rest of humanity in this country silently and desparately crave." Then she walked right up to me and very quietly whispered, "You humans don't even know what it is you want. You are caught in a whirlpool of your own creation, and are being slowly sucked down into the abyss. I know that is not what you hoped to hear from us, but that is what we have seen, and what we think. Relax a bit, smell the rain, stand in it and let yourself get wet to the skin and enjoy it." And with that comment she walked out of the shelter, found a spot in the rain and just kushed to do just that.

I honestly don't know what it all means, don't know what they were trying to tell me, but can tell you for a fact that for the past five days as I watch the news spin and spin and re-spin everything about this election, I am struggling more with the comments made by my llamas. They are wise and magic creatures and when they speak it is important to listen.

I think I will think on this some more...

Autumn Leaves and Moments of Clarity

2008-11-02T12:28:00.001-08:00

Last week has indeed been strange and has thrown me into the wonderful world of being A COMMUTER. I was dispatched to work a job in Lake Forest Park Washington. Well actually Kenmore, but that is moot to the subject at hand.

View Larger Map

The actual final round trip mileage is 165 miles. I leave the house at 5:00am and arrive at the job site at 6:30 give or take 5 or 10 minutes. What you have to realize of course is that we actually don't start working until 7:30, BUT this is the I-5 corridor through all of Pierce and King Counties here in my beloved Washington State and were I to leave the house at 6am, the travel time would make it impossible to arrive on time. By proof is my travel time at the end of the day. We generally quit for the day between 3:30 and 4pm. On Wednesday this week the trip home took 2 hours for the same 82 miles. On Thursday the trip took 2 1/2 hours, and on FRIDAY it took me a complete 3 hours to get home. No accidents, no getting off the freeway, no disaster weather, just an obscene volume of traffic that makes it impossible to get anywhere fast. I actually spent more than 2 hours on Friday driving my little Kia Rio in second gear!!!

So that all makes a 40 hour work week expand to 60+ hours and lord help me the day there is actually an accident in either direction on the freeway; everything comes to a dead standstill regardless of which direction the accident is in. Don't know if this is unique to the PNW, but a southbound accident will bring northbound traffic to a dead stop so everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE has an morbidly obscene desire to hopefully catch some real gore laying sprawled across the freeway.

So here's how the day lays out. Up at 4am leave the house at 5am work 8 hours, drive home, arrive home between 6 and 7pm and go to bed at 8pm just to start the whole thing all over again. I get at best a grand total of 2 hours time awake at the end of the day.

What this also means is that Chloe is stuck dealing with ALL of the chores on our little farm. Besides the usual things she does, cooking, cleaning, laundry, and grocery shopping AFTER working a full time job, she needs to feed and water all the animals. She has to keep the fire going [literally] since this is our sole source of heat, and deal with any of the crisis things that happen when you own as many llamas as we do.

I seriously considered finding a place to stay up north in order to avoid the constant driving, but then did the math. The cheapest motel room I could find with even the closest thing to moderately sanitary was 45 dollars a night. Again comes math and money. I get 38 miles to the gallon which means right now with the crash in gasoline prices, it only costs me 7.50 to drive round trip per day. Yes I spend 4 hours minimum on the road, but 45 per night for 5 nights is 18% of my gross earnings for the week. Despite the time spent on the road over a 5 day period I get to keep another 187.00 in my pocket for the 20 hours additional road time. Time may indeed be money and that may not sound like a lot of money to many, but that money saved in one week pays the monthly phone and electric bill. So what's a guy to do but grin and bear it.

Where or where you may ask are the Autumn Leaves and Moments of Clarity? When you are driving down the road travelling between 10 and 20 miles an hour for 1 to 2 hours on the way home, you have lots of time to look around you and unfortunately even more time to think. And given it is now November there is lots of fall color in the mix of alder, maple, sweetgum, cedar, fir and the occasional wild growing apple or cherry or pear tree on the slopes along the freeway. And its quite pretty. Its not the colors that blaze across the higher country of Eastern Washington, but close enough to remind me of my much much younger days on the east coast with fall colors from oak and hickory and ash and elm and birch and willow and maple and any number of other hardwoods that emblazen the natural landscapes of rural east coast communities. And there in lies THE CLARITY. Remember I told you when driving mindlessly your mind is anything but mindless. It makes huge leaps in directions you often are not prepared for.

That was then, this is now and the little moments are all I have. It's all about money and survival, the life I have now is what it is. Harsh economic times on a broader level and even harsher economic times on the home front have forced me to 'go where the work is' in an almost Steinbeck novel way. It's not the Great Depression, but things are bad enough that every action and every decisions starts with 'what's it going to cost'? Not in any grand metaphysical sense of emotions or risks to relationships but in real raw dollars. What price glory has been reduced to a simple what price.

THE CLARITY is that what I have now is quite possibly as good as it will get after all the changes the past two years have brought, and while I have not resigned myself to this life, it certainly has become the way of things. And worst of all is I am getting used to it.
Night work shifts averaging 12-18 hours with some as long as 25 hours, being ready to jump in the car at a moments notice and head off to a job somewhere working for a day here or a week there, often for people who not only don't know your name, but don't want to. Packing meals to go that have to be eaten while you work because the boss de jour doesn't believe that there are rules about meal breaks for a reason becomes the norm. Having to ask permission to use a porta-potty or a bush becomes a way of life, and waiting often for 2 or three hours to get that two minute becomes the rule rather than the exception.

But the bottom line is still always money. There is no pride just the fall if you choose not to take what's given how and when it's given. There are way too many people standing in line behind you to even pause to ask the normal questions about 'work conditions' that might have been a part of my past, and others' pasts.

I still apply for jobs that have some consistency and reliability, but it's to the point now where the numbers of people looking for work is so huge that most employers [even state and local government agencies and school districts] aren't even bothering to send out letters saying thanks but no thanks.

So what started out as simply commuting to make a buck turns into time spent looking at what should be beautiful Autumn Leaves and viola Moments of Clarity.

IT Happens When You Aren't looking

2008-10-27T18:21:00.000-07:00

So long ago and yet not, I was 20. Grand and proud and subjecting myself to abuses and experimentations and travels doing things that remain parts of the hauntings of my life now, and I thought all was great with the world.

And then I was 25 with a real job and a real girlfriend with a son and then we married.

I woke up one day at its 30 years later. No children but married to my fourth wife, many many many jobs later and wondering now what happened to my life that once asked not for fame or fortune but simply for fullfillment. It's a new kind of resignation when you realize
that the life you thought you might have filled with children and comfort is now filled with doubts about self and hopes for a quiet happy future.
Who I am now, what I am now, is the sum of what I've done, but attempting to wrap around what it is I have done for 55 years is elusive. Scary to say the least. And that is what happens when you aren't looking. Life Happens when you aren't looking, and it happens even if you are looking.

If this is what a mid-life crisis is all about, I am VERY NOT IMPRESSED.

With Each Llama Passing Comes Pain

2008-09-25T12:50:00.000-07:00

Sojourns Selene born February 22, 1997 died September 25, 2008. A llama who never asked for much, and gave her soul to the family and the herd.

She was a quiet and a gentle giant llama, willing to share every moment of joy and pain that was a part of her life. We bred her once and she lost that baby many years ago. We cried for her loss and shared in her pain. For three days she hovered over the body and came to us each time we went into the pasture as if to ask us 'fix this please'.

We cried at her passing today and I held her head as she slowly moved on to a place we hope is much more peaceful than the last few weeks of her life.

She lived in dignity and power and let us ease her pain without complaint.

We will miss her passion, miss her kisses, and miss her never ending antics in the herd.

Time passes for us all and with each passing of the members of our llama herd they, and we, all pause to reflect on the pain.

Selene was the third female to enter our lives oh so long ago and never once gave us reason to regret having her with us. Without fail we will miss the echo down our valley when calling her "Seleeene, Come on Seleeene" With that this thunderous llama would fly across from wherever she was to let us share a moment with her.

Oh sure she hated being sheared, but how many llamas will pick up any foot on command and let you trim her toes on or off lead?

How many llamas will pluck a carrot, or an apple chunk from your mouth without so much as blinking an eye?

After the vet had come and gone, and after she was placed in her final resting place overlooking the hills behind our property, I let the herd come back to where she had chosen to die.

The first to look for her was Cayan. Then all her babies, Heidi, Isabeau and Akela wandered to the spot where she had been.

And then came Rachel. She walked quietly and with the most regal and silent rigid stepping I have ever seen, paused directly over where she had been, raised her head and neck and gave Selene the longest round of snorts I have yet to hear her give. The other girls in the herd wandered over, paused and they too appeared lost and confused.

I know there is a smell to death, but want, no actually need, to believe that they understand what happened, understand the passing, and understand that death is part of the cycle of things.

And now as I write this, all the girls have wandered out into the pastures, understanding it seems that there are moments to pause and then moments to continue on with life.

Tomorrow will be another day with all the chores and all the requirements of living for me, and for the rest of the llamas, but there will be a hole in the universe. It will be an insignficant and small hole given the scope and nature of the universe and only important probably to me, and no doubt even this posting will never be read.

But there is a need for me to put thoughts somewhere.

Nemaste Selene.

Be at peace.

What's in the word spam

2008-08-30T12:45:00.000-07:00

Well google blogger has decided I'm spam and it seems that even though no one, and I do indeed mean no one ever reads this blog, they still seem to think its spam.

And it all appears that no matter what I do as far as attempting to communicate to them, no answers are to be sent back to me about my questions.

Oddly enough though, they are more than happy to take my money for the ad words account that also is never used by anyone.

So... at some point do not be surprised if the whole blog just disappears. After 20 days if THEY don't review it, the whole profile and blog just disappears and I won't be writing everything or apparently anything over again.

Fugly Horse of the Day!: Today I cleaned up your mess

2008-07-26T14:27:00.000-07:00

Fugly Horse of the Day!: Today I cleaned up your mess