Touching moments from today

• Allie the cat, sniffing Caleb as he sleeps, and then licking his neck tentatively with her little pink tongue.

• Belle, looking at me with confusion, eager for her walk in the pasture but holding back, not understanding why big brother Caleb isn't leading the pack as usual.

• Caleb, standing with his head down, tail down, ears down, looking at me with his amazing topaz eyes wondering why even the little bit of water he tried to drink comes right back up minutes later.

• The piggies, sensing my rush as I feed them breakfast, and lining up ever so nicely for their piggy feed instead of their usual mad rush to claim my attention.

• Charley, who never shares a bed or a couch with anyone, curled up beside Caleb on my bed when I come in from feeding the piggies.

• Caleb, hearing the sound of my car keys as I go to take Charley to the vet's for a dental cleaning, shaking himself out of his heavy deep sleep and nausea to make sure he doesn't get left behind, and beating both the other dogs to the car door.

• Martin the alpaca, standing forlornly in the pouring rain, head over the pasture gate, staring intensely at the back door, because in all the worry about Caleb I totally forgot to take him his hay and grain this morning (oops!)

• Charley, doing her “I’m sulking, I’m not talking to you” guilt trip on me when I pick her up from the vet this afternoon – where apparently she was very pissed to wake up from her dental cleaning and find she was not at home!

• Caleb, too weak and sick by the end of the day to even come to the door when I arrive home, raising his head to acknowledge Charley’s return and giving her a little sniff as she walks past (“Hmmmm…where ya bin? I know that smell – it’s the place where they stick things up your butt and poke you with needles and stuff. I was there yesterday. Welcome home buddy.”)

• Scotch, buried in straw this evening, patiently letting the babes clamber all over him as they find their place in the huddle.

There is nothing as peaceful, as calming, as able to bring balance to my life, as the time I spend with my animals. Sitting in the straw with the pigs in the barn as night falls, a solitary light bulb glowing on the old wood beams, the sound of rain drumming on the metal roof, a babe in my lap getting a tummy rub, the gentle “oofs” as the piggies settle in for the night – and I am strengthened once again for whatever challenges the night and the next day may bring.

May the Great Spirit bless all the animals in my care.