Llama Love

Even, or perhaps especially in a small herd, one animal stands out. For me, it has always been this very big girl. She was what started me on my way to learning llamas, and when our guard llama conceived, our white llama took over that job. Interesting how shifts in a herd population change, and how important animals are in the lives of those who love them.

As with any life, my has recently had its share of challenging times, but what anchors me in reality, what keeps me from self-indulgence is my animals. All of them, but especially the girls in the barn. The therapeutic value of knowing that no matter how you feel, or what the weather is, you get up, out, and take care of them. Like Benjamin Franklin's aphorism, "Take care of your shop and your shop will take care of you," the girls take good care of me. So too does my husband, and of course, my network of friends, like my herd, is small but just perfect. No one could ask for more.

But still, there's something in the nuzzle of a velvet soft face of a llama, their breath, which my breeder and I swear is healing, and that way that they sense need and deliver comfort, unasked but there, is all the motivation that I need each day to brave the elements (not hard today at 72 degrees and sunny) for a larger than life reward.