Furlough shmurlough

We had a great afternoon with Jeff home on a half-day furlough. (Ah, the economy.) Though we'd just been the day before, Calder wished to take his Daddy to see the new lambs up at the OSU Sheep Barns. There were very few babes... mostly very pregnant ewes biding their time.



But unlike yesterday, we arrived just in time to watch a few be born. Pretty inspiring to see these mamas birth their babes. And since they usually come in pairs, it was incredible to watch the mama instinctively give so much attention to the first one while being at the same time in the midst of deep labor with the second.

The ewe pictured above gave birth directly in front of us. We came upon her just after the birth of her first lamb and watched the little one struggle to and succeed at standing and walking just minutes after being born. About 10 minutes later, after the birth of her twin (who's about a minute old here), the firstborn was successfully nursing. And I'm certain if I could see them now, only hours post-partum, the two new babes would be romping around quite confidently through the straw. I can't believe how quickly the milestones are passed.

Kyrie so clearly shoots with a far better camera than I. Her photos taken in the dim light of the barns turned out much nicer than mine. Enjoy them!



Just up the road from the barns is the Oak Creek entrance to the McDonald-Dunn Forest. We took a rainy day walk on a great trail along the creek and talked about cougars and "which way to go" at each fork in the path.



Someone hitched a ride the last bit of the way.



And I admired these harbingers of Spring. I can't ever remember their name, but they were lighting up the woods today and lace the greenway behind out house this time of year. Even through the rain - which is very much a part of our Spring - they fill my head with promises and happy plans for new life and the bright green season to come.