Wordful Wednesday-Herding Sheep

I took my kids on a vacation to Utah in July.  It was jam-packed full of events, and the best part is that all of them involved my extended family.  We got to spend the week with my dad and all of my siblings and their children.  We even got to spend time  with my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.  It was so. nice.

So nice, in fact that I can’t believe that I’m JUST getting around to posting about it.

Before I dive into my post though, let me just tell you how much I love Picnik since each week I get at least 5 emails asking what I used to edit my photos.  Picnik is a free online photo editing site, and it’s super easy to use. They have some great “advanced” features that I use all the time, so I actually pay for a premium membership, but most applications are free. I edited all of these photos using Lomo-ish by Picnik.

I drove to Utah a day early just so my children would have the opportunity to see my grandpa “in action”. I knew that the sheep herders were moving their herds to different feeding grounds during the time that we would be there, and I wanted to make sure that we arrived in time to see them in an area where we could actually find them.  Some days of the “drive” are up through canyons that are downright scary, and can’t be accessed with a regular old city vehicle.

Seeing all of the sheep always brings back memories, and reminds me that there are so many jobs that make this world go round!  I’m just glad this particular job isn’t one of mine.  It’s so physically demanding.  And dirty.

I love this red sheep camp!

Part of the fun of getting to experience the sheep being herded is having a chance to ride the horses and mules. I’ve always been a bit scared of horses, so growing up, I’d have one of the herders put me in the saddle and walk me along beside the herd of sheep. Now that I’m older I realize what a nice thing that was for them to do for me.

I think Emma feels the same way I do about horses: I feel a lot better when someone else is up there with me!

The boys had zero fear of the horses.

See how history repeats itself?

Every herd has a guard dog as well as a few herd dogs.  It’s amazing to me that these dogs are completely trained by their mother.  No dog obedience classes for these guys.  They just know how to do their job instinctively.

Eventually the men, including my grandpa have to get back to work, but while we are there, they give us their full attention.

But then the time comes when they have to get back to work.  And so they do.

Have you ever had the chance to experience “rural” jobs?  Which ones?  What surprised you most?

Wordful Wednesday is like Wordless Wednesday, only WITH words. It’s for those of us that can’t contain the chatter, but in a good way. More info. in my tabber box titled WW on the right. Thank you for playing along!

Don’t forget to hop on over to my co-host Amanda’s place (Parenting By Dummies) to see what she has to be Wordful about today!