Annual Sheep & Fiber Fest Field Trip

Sometimes I like to put on my green gardening boots (with cartoon goats on them) and go out into the country for the day (especially if it involves actual farm animals). And so, last weekend, my husband, daughters, and I went to one of our state’s Sheep & Fiber Festivals.

It was a beautiful day— blue skies, puffy clouds, and shades of green everywhere.

We drove an hour and a half, first into the city, and then beyond— and I got to do one of my favorite things to do in the car when I’m not driving: take iPhone photos and edit them through a painting app. I love spending the drive looking for moments of beauty and then having these little mobile postcards.

Good friends of ours invited us last year, and we went with them this year as well. As should anyone who ever invites me on an agricultural excursion of any kind, these friends know that I will show up with great amounts of enthusiasm…but not a lot of savvy; I need guidance about what to wear, what to expect, and how not to wander towards the food tents (as a vegetarian).

We watched shearing and spinning, admired artisanal wares, shopped for yarn, petted sheep and goats, and watched sheep herding demonstrations.

Like last year, the festival filled me with appreciation for all that I don’t know how to do with my hands and shook me out of the rural fantasies I sometimes entertain. I may be able to crochet, but it’s good to be reminded that my family’s warmth does not depend on my skills. I love the company and inspiration of animals, but I don’t have the temperament for or inclination towards animal husbandry.

Basically, when in the country (as opposed to in the garden, or the capital W wild), I’m just a tourist with a camera. I always get some good photos though.

And a weekend in which you get to kiss a sheep is not a bad weekend at all.