Today, this Christmas morning 2010. I awoke at 6:30 to a fiery red and green sunrise sky and watched the entrails of a distant plane write slowly across it, while marveling at the momentary connection to the human beings aboard, wondering if they also saw the Christmas tree colored morning from their vantage point. Did they notice all the dots of light representing the houses and streets filled with people below them?
Impossible to capture exactly with digital camera, so I etched this glory in my mind instead, as it shifted to a brilliant golden bright orange, outlining in crimson red the underbelly of storm clouds rolling in to define the rest of the day as expected. My Christmas present from God was a surreal vision of reality. There is nothing but peace in the beginning of a new day, if you’re present to witness it.
Once the sun fully rose, the landscape below us was grey, with a lighter grey fog rolling in, hyphenated by the smoke rising from our neighbor’s chimney. Wake up everybody! Santa came with gifts for everyone!
Whatever religious Holiday you celebrate this season - or not - the end of the secular calendar year is a time of reflection, as well as celebration. There’s always hope for better days ahead, or at least no doubt different days, and the enticing promise of renewal.
My gift to you, passing it forward, is the following photograph taken last spring and my reflections on living with alpacas and why we love and care for them so much…
The Dance of Life, by Sandra C. Wallace © J[
Dedicated to my children and grandchildren.
Alpacas are our touchstone to life’s enduring spirit. They know we’re there, yet they accept us without much complaint. They acknowledge our presence, let us walk among them and do us no harm. They give us comfort and warmth and beauty and all they ask in return is that we remain good shepherds in their care.
They tread lightly on the ground, eat plants gingerly without destroying them, and then produce new life, milk for their babies and fiber for purposeful use.
We shear their fleeces late spring and imagine they’re grateful for the cooler option for the summer months ahead, despite their objections to the indignity of human wrangling to get the job done. We covet the fiber they create and look for ways to turn it into something wonderful for our own purpose and pleasure.
Truth be told, not all alpaca fiber is as soft and luxurious as advertized, but all of it IS wonderfully beneficial to a good end. It’s simply brilliant in its invention.
Alpacas sustain us as well when we turn their composted manure into small garden paradises or other eco-friendly uses.
Indeed alpacas do spit to express displeasure, but once done, it’s over. They don’t carry perceived injustices forward. Instead, they just stay in the moment – alert and at the ready for what’s to come next.
They know and welcome another alpaca when they see one and they do not thrive unless they are in each other’s company, no matter the color or style of their individual fleeces. They live best within a herd, but are not tribal. They never engage in perpetual war.
They protect each other and their young from harm and danger. First priority. They alarm call and come together for better security. It’s never another alpaca that they need fear for their life - yet they make their individual herd position/standings clear for safety, stability and longevity. The strongest are in charge of most affairs, but they are never criminal, hateful or vengeful.
They teach us about life and its challenges and the way to accept both good and bad events with grace as we live within earth’s rhythms and cycles.
So, I invite you to enjoy your many gifts and blessings of the day, as you tend to your herd – which is your own life in the moment.
Sandra
