Chapter Eighteen:
Spinning Llama Yarns
[Page 2]
"For a long time after we left Juniper Ridge, I missed watching
you and Kelly. Through you, I got glimpses into the consciousness
of humans. It seems very, very strange to me. It must be hard to
be a human. Kelly seems more like us llamas than you do. He draws
a lot of energy from the earth. I think you are more like Posey.
"But people seem so separate from each other. They don't touch
minds in the ways we llamas do. Isn't that lonely? What's the point
of having language and all your material things if you live all
the time so alone?''
"It's hard to explain, Lil. Sometimes I wonder about that
myself. We have the capability of being closer to each other than
we often are, and there are parts of the world where the people
do have more of a group mind. But there are many things we can learn
from this way of being that you can't learn as a llama.''
Lil Bit didn't seem overly impressed. "I love being here at
Elk Hill where there are so many llamas. The group mind has such
a wonderful texture. I love Linda and Nelson too. They are fun to
watch. If it weren't for Linda, I would not have gotten pregnant
again.''
Linda had an incredibly strong conviction that Lil Bit could have
more babies. She had worked tenaciously with Lil and with her veterinarian
before a pregnancy had held. Now Lil was about seven months pregnant.
I have amassed a big pile of clean wool, enough to do some spinning.
I'm just learning to spin, and sometimes, when everything is going
smoothly, the movement of the spinning wheel induces reveries.
Stories, told and untold, flow through my mind like the wool through
my fingers. I think of our llamas, living now at Elk Hill. When
we go out to visit them, they greet us with long, steady gazes.
Blossom and Thundercloud, especially, just stand and look at us
for what seems a very long time. We can tell they are all happy
at Elk Hill, but it's wonderful to feel once again that special
connection.
There are yarns that could be spun about the babies that have been
born since our herd went to live with Linda and Nelson. Isa, Blossom's
first daughter, was a little premature and kept Linda up all night.
I was glad to miss that marathon. Not that we missed it entirely--Kelly
and I were visualizing that the little one would thrive. When she
did, we took Thai food out to Elk Hill to celebrate, starting an
enjoyable tradition.
We next bred Blossom to Bogart, a Chilean import known for his
personality and looks. He died unexpectedly, and Blossom produced
one of his last daughters. Miss Behavin' is growing into one of
our nicest llamas.
Lally had Thundercloud's first baby, a girl who epitomized everything
we'd been breeding for. She inherited her father's presence and
her mother's fondness for humans. Linda and Nelson liked Jasmine
so much that they bought her from us. It was hard to sell her, but
Lally is due soon to have another Thundercloud baby.
Perestroika, the last llama born at Juniper Ridge, is almost to
the end of her first pregnancy. She's been very interested in babies
all her life; Linda thinks Perry will be wild with joy at having
one of her very own. Perestroika is also bred to Thundercloud.
He has his own field right next to them, where he can keep his
eye on everything.
Posey had an all-black son from Whiskers, and has since had another
son, a beautiful almost all-white one from Bogart. We sold her to
a friend who has known and loved her all her life, someone who appreciated
her special energy. He reports that she's fine. She lives in high
mountains again.
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