Chapter 15 - What a Difference a Year Makes!

It’s funny how raising alpacas has changed my perspective on life.  Somehow I am completed.  Something that I did not even know was missing has been added.  Perhaps it is the peace of the barn in the chill of morning or the way the alpacas come when they hear me calling them from the field.  It might be the alpaca kisses that are so hard to come by or the pronking when I open the gate to the field in the afternoon.

Maybe it is the satisfaction of seeing each new cria; the surprise that every birth brings as you discover the gender and color of the newborn.  Even the act of naming each cria can be meaningful as we search for the right name from our ever growing list.

Perhaps it is the discovery that my daughter and I can be partners and better yet friends.  Taking long trips in the car to alpaca shows, singing crazy songs to pass the time.  Seeing all the new  friends that we have made. Walking into the show ring with an alpaca and actually placing well!

On further reflection it might be the joy of seeing my husband and my sons working together to build the barn and the overhangs.  Or the silliness of seeing my daughter laying on the ground after losing her footing as we tried to capture one of our show girls for halter training.

It might be the fun of planning our farm store, choosing a name, deciding on what we will sell.  It could be the calm that knitting a scarf or seeing Jayme’s needle felted items on Facebook engenders..

Who Knows – All I know is that I am more contented, more joyful, and more complete than I have been since my children were babies and needed me.  I think it is all about how the alpacas have brought us together and how I have something to look forward to as retirement comes into view.