Old Animals

The New York Times recently ran an article, "What We Can Learn From Old Animals." In an effort to cope with her mother's Alzheimers, a photographer captured images of old horses, dogs, sheep, hogs and fowl.

Those photographs remind me that animals don't fret about their age, their slowing steps. They live in the moment.

Right now, we don't have any old animals. We went through a rough few years when a few senior horses, dogs, cats, and pet hen died.

The animal closest to being a senior citizen on the farm is our 10-year-old Border collie, Mickey. She might be a step or two slower than she was in her youth, but she still gets the puppy zoomies. She still eagerly goes on the morning and evening walks, and she still herds the sheep.

I'll be spending the weekend with her at a herding trial, where the sheep won't dare utter the word "old" to her.