Finding Home...

You know there are so many cliches about a home vs a house, and what it means to find your home; a sense of where you belong. I see it with students trying to find the right college that suits them, or with careers or social groups etc. What it comes down to is finding a place in which we belong. A place that gives us that innate sense of security that leads to a comfort that can only be found... well, at home.

I can honestly say how blessed I am to have been given such a "home." I use the word given loosely because a lot of work has gone into it to make it what it is today, but still it's the place, the setting, the barns and the animals that makes it home for me. A place that I can not wait to get home to, despite the work that has to be done and chores to manage, I love it. I absolutely love it.

Finding home seemed to be a theme here these past few weeks. One thing was in regard to the sheep. Last time I went to pick up 8 sheep and borrowed a long livestock trailer. It took me almost 12 hours of driving, lots of white knuckles (through Flint and Saginaw with a four horse trailer and tons of traffic on Michigan roads no less.... c'mon). But for merely two sheep... I was better off driving the truck. So I had to build a contraption.

I went downstate to pick the final two ewe's from the breeder that I purchased all of my sheep from. They had remained behind in order to be bred by other rams. This gives me the opportunity to have lambs in March, with different bloodlines then what I have on my farm currently. Its like getting all the goods of the ram (genes) without having to pay for him or raise him for the year. How's the saying go? Why buy the cow when I can get the milk for... anyway, below you see the two newbies... Lisa and Artemesia. Welcome home ladies to Windy Knob.

Unfortunately it's not all good news in finding home. I would use a word like ironic but that doesn't bode well for the mood of the context. If you were to read back a few posts in the blog, you would see I mentioned about taking each day as it comes and not wishing days away. I specifically mentioned Baka the Cat and how he had "found the farm" and came to live here back in January. I was referring to how quickly time was flying by.

About a week and a half ago (okay who am I kidding, I know exactly when it was: Wednesday the 4th at 4:50pm, on my way to Suttons Bay) I found Baka had been hit by a car and was laying at the base of the driveway. He died. It was surreal at first and Ill save you the details, but it didn't take long before it set in and I realized I had lost a good friend. Baka was special, and I will be the first to admit everyone thinks their pet is special and they truly are, but everyone loved Baka. After my sister visited, she loved Baka so much she went home and adopted a kitten of her own. And our neighbors had first found Baka in their barn back in January. He then charmed his way into their house, where they had a couple of cats of their own who weren't as welcoming; which meant Baka was in need of a home of his own. Windy Knob had some room and a few dogs which was the hold up, how is this cat going to do around a few giant dogs? Well, this is how it went.

Like I said, everyone loved Baka, even the 145 pound Great Dane - Milos. I wish I could show you video of walking the dogs around the farm, and Baka following about 20 yards behind. Or how he was too good for his own kitty water bowl; instead he had to stand on his back legs and drink out of the elevated dog water bowls. He lived up to his name, which was short for Sobaka meaning dog in Ukrainian. He had found his home, and just wanted to be one of the dogs. Baka was special and I was lucky enough to have him find me. I'm sad that it was for only 10 months, but I'll never forget him. Something about him just soothed everyone he met. I think I liked to curl up and watch tv as much as I liked knowing that he would soon join me. I never thought I could become so attached to an animal in so little time. And with that, just as quickly and unexpectedly that Baka came, it was time for him to go. Its the full circle about finding home. Baka had to go to make someone else's day, just like he use to make mine.