Beginnings

Every week my wee human, A, gets a new book from the library at school and this week’s was Otis and the Kittens. For those unfamiliar with the stories of Otis – he is a small, red, 3-wheeled tractor who has the ability and drive to solve problems. In this story it’s summertime and it’s extremely dry. The creeks have dried up and the corn is only half as tall as it should be. Otis and the farmhands are working long hard hours to put up the straw in the barn, and after work Otis hangs out and plays with the farm animals. One day, while Otis is relaxing after work, a fire starts in the barn and Otis realizes that there is a mama cat with kittens who need to be rescued from the attic as the flames begin consuming the barn. While the mama cat and kittens are all saved, Otis ends up trapped. All the farm animals and the Fire Chief work together to then rescue Otis.

I had to stop numerous times as I read. My throat kept choking up and my voice was unsteady. Tears flowed down my face as I read. A asked me why I was crying. My mind was racing with too many thoughts to explain – connection, love, presence, belonging. These ideas just began to scratch the surface of all the feelings. Vulnerability was there too - letting him see me so emotional. I try really hard to be steady and well-regulated emotionally for him. I get it wrong some times for sure, usually when I’m irritated or scared. It occurred to me that surely it must also be healthy for both of us to see the feelings when I think of such deep loyalty and care. So I did my best to make it age appropriate and I told him that it must be an amazing thing to have so many good friends who are willing to run into danger to help you.

After traveling the world as a child and moving across the country 5 years ago, I often think about these topics and I’m sure I will come back to many of them in future posts. For now, to get started I’m going to be brave. Social media and internet presence feels dangerous – I hope I’m not running into a burning barn with a floor that may collapse under me. I hope that if I am that I have friends who will drag me back out.

So now, without further ado, let me introduce Yasmine. We've been hoping for great things from Slush Fund, her daddy, and she is giving us reason to feel very optimistic. As a maiden doe Yogi, her mother, has been exceptionally attentive, calm and caring, showing all the maternal traits we look for, producing plenty of milk and maintaining her own weight too. Yasmine appears to have great width, spring of rib, level topline and elegance. We're excited to see her grow and develop!

Footnote: The Otis book series is written by Loren Long.