Good Friday, Magdalene, and life on a farm

Good Friday was the start of lambing season here at Mission Hill. Right on cue, our ewe, Chloe, gave birth to a beautiful lamb, whom my son quickly named Magdalene.

The morning began as most: my youngest daughter fed the animals and completed her chores; soon, Micaela hollered for us to come down the hill. We had a new addition to our family. The lamb was already dry and nursing by the time we reached the sheep pen.

This birth symbolizes the cycle of life that renews the soul each spring when we witness the miracle of life. Our little lamb is full of innocence and beauty and possibilities.

Magdalene will not be alone for long; brothers and sisters and cousins will soon join her to run and play and bring the pastures to life. Up the hill, the rabbit nest boxes are filled with potential waiting to travel to Portland in the fall.

We are excited; we have never attended an ARBA national show before. What will it be like to see 15,000 rabbits under one roof? I must thank Manuel Hidalgo for selling me my New Zealand red breeding stock. 

I have high hopes that some little bunny in one of those nest boxes will shine on the judge’s table come next November. But if show success eludes our rabbits in Portland, it will be OK. We will return to Mission Hill, sit in our rocker, and watch Magdalene and the other lambs run and frolic for another year.