For November 22, 2012.
What a gorgeous weekend we just had. Saturday was just a
blur, because I had several events to attend in succession, but I do remember
it was a lovely, sunny and unseasonably warm day. A perfect day for a parade.
I planned it out in my head but I didn’t really ‘practice’
putting Gracie in fake antlers and blinking red nose, corralling her and
putting her into the back of the truck for the big event. I’m lucky it went
pretty much just like I imagined.
On Saturday morning at 10am, I walked briskly down the
pasture with a bucket of crushed corn in my hand. I called Gracie a few times,
trying not to draw attention to the candy I was carrying. Then I tripped on a
rock, falling on my knees and spraying corn everywhere. When the majority of
the sheep saw that rainbow of golden corn arcing through the sky, they swarmed
me. The crush of sweaty sheep bodies was pretty oppressive but I managed to get
out from under the huddle. And there was Gracie, standing off to the side,
looking at me with, well, sheep eyes.
I held a small handful of corn under her nose so she could
eat it. “C’mon Gracie. We’re going to be in the parade.” She (and about 99
others) followed me up to the barnyard. The biggest sheep kept bookending me,
trying to block and tackle me the whole way up the path.
The Farmer and his friend came out of the house just then,
and helped me to lift Gracie into the back of the truck, where she discovered,
to her delight, three delicious bales of horse-quality hay. Many thanks to our
neighbour Richard Lavigne for his donation.
“Call me if it all goes horribly wrong,” the Farmer smiled
as I drove away. I’m sure he was picturing Gracie getting away from me and
running down Prescott Street, stopping only to eat flowers and Christmas
decorations.
At the parade loading site, Gracie munched hay and greeted
passers-by while we decorated our ‘float’. We would be riding in the back of
the Kinlar truck. Note to self: next year put Gracie on a real float, so when
she ducks her head to eat more hay, she can still be seen by the crowd. Many
just got a view of a fluffy butt.
Thank goodness I remembered to bring a poop scoop and
bucket. I have never seen a sheep make such a mess of the back of a truck. She
must have had a bad case of the nerves.
I walked beside the truck with my radio co-hosts Drew and Mark for most
of the parade, handing out candy. I haven’t been in a parade since my Girl
Guide years. It’s a little overwhelming, and if you tried to catch my eye and I
walked right past you, I apologize. I was distributing candy canes and
apparently I can only concentrate on one thing at a time. Next year I will simply
sit on the float with Gracie and smile and wave. The parade became much more
enjoyable for both of us when I ran out of candy and did that. Gracie was
calmer with me by her side; she stopped bawling and lifted her head to survey
the crowd.
Many times I heard “Look! A real sheep!” I think the fake antlers were a nice touch.
Gracie always wanted to be a reindeer. She wasn’t very fond of the red blinking
nose, however. Kept trying to eat it.
As soon as we reached the end of the parade route, turned
the truck around and upgraded to a regular speed, Gracie put her head in my lap
and tried to scratch her antlers off. “Ok you can take them off now,” I told
her, patting her head and giving her just a tiny bit more corn.
Back at the ranch, I opened the tailgate and tugged at
Gracie’s wool until she was standing on the edge. I lifted her and she
half-hopped out onto the ground. With a little “baa” she ran through the gate
to meet Philip the ram, who had just been released from the barn to do his fall
breeding.
All in all I think it was a pretty exciting day for Gracie.
Probably not at all what she imagined when she woke up that morning.
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