Hair Fertilizer

Just last week it was quite warm outside here in Arkansas, a late blast of heat lingering through the transition of late summer into early fall. I know that in years past, when we have gone from hot to cold in a matter of days, we all gripe and moan that we didn’t get a good transition season. This year, from my perspective, I believe we have had a pretty decent transfer from summer to fall, enjoying some cool mornings, mild days and times to give the air conditioner a bit of a break while not yet having to crank the heat on.

With some of this high and low temperature weather over the last several weeks, you never know when it might be ninety degrees out or thirty, along with all temperatures in between. But there is one thing for certain. God seems to know just when to come by and sprinkle some hair fertilizer on our sheep, seemingly transforming their coats from the short-haired dog look into having a near woolly coat. This seems to happen in a matter of weeks.

I should never be amazed at God, knowing His capabilities, but nonetheless, I often am. I suspect most people aren’t, but I am not most people. I’m always looking for those little things God puts in motion in the natural course of nature. Take sheep hair for instance. Yes, I did say ‘hair’ and not ‘wool’. The breed of sheep I shepherd on our small farm are called hair sheep, the Katahdin breed to be specific. These animals are specifically bred for meat production and do not grow a thick coat of wool like their poofy cousins that keep the sweater manufacturing pipeline running smoothly. Seems like a good match given I’m not a sweater kind of guy.

One thing I suppose I do have in common with the sheep I manage is that I’m prone to wander. I’ve taken a peek at the proverbial green grass across the fence a time or two in life. My sheep? Well, let’s just say that, because their shepherd has not fenced them in properly in a few places, yes, they wander. Oh, and when they do, I indeed scold them and coax them to come home. Thankfully my neighbor has been quite patient with the lax fence-ability of my field that adjoins his. Indeed, it’s on the to-do list, but that’s a topic for another day.

Even when the grass is plentiful in our field, the sheep just don’t seem to be satisfied. They are grazers, roamers, never staying in one place very long. Even if their favorite grasses, the stuff they love and long for, is right under their noses, they get excited when it comes to something tasty across the fence. It’s an ongoing event and will be until I get the fences mended. I may be able to fence them in, but I’ll not be able to contain that innate desire they have of sampling somebody else’s buffet.

In regards to their hair, which as I mentioned was quite short just a few weeks back, I believe the recent rains over the weekend activated that hair fertilizer God planted on them. It couldn’t have been more than just days ago when I went out there on our last hot day last week and they seemed as normal as can be. But a couple of things happened in the course of a few days. One, it rained off and on for a good bit, giving the sheep a much-needed bath to wash off their dust-laden coats. Two, when I went out to check on them yesterday, and after the rains and some much colder weather, it was like they had gone through the wind tunnel at the car wash. Poof! Seemingly overnight, and right before our first hard freeze last night, the sheep just seemed to be sporting the most beautiful coat of white hair you’ve ever seen. It was almost as if God passed by, whispered something in their ears about the freeze coming, and a hair-growing switch got flipped on.

Now, if only I could get some of that God-inspired hair fertilizer to work on the scarcity on top of my noggin. Perhaps next fall I can time one of my walks through the field on the day God’s out their doing the sheep whispering. Might do me some good in a variety of ways, hair and all. You never know!