Life at the Ranch

Over the Labor Day weekend my family and I visited my cousin's Alpaca Ranch in southern Arizona.  My cousin, Lisa, and her daughter, Alex (not her real name), operate the place with a little bit of help from my aunt Darlene and uncle Jim who live on the neighboring property.  They have 16 alpacas, 3 dogs, a bunch of chickens, a couple of peacocks, and 2 goats, plus a variety of birds, bugs, critters, spiders (we saw one tarantula), lizards and snakes (some harmless, although they eat the chicken eggs, and also some nasty rattlesnakes).  A deer or two often meander through, and I think I smelled the telling scent of a family of Javelina.  In addition, Lisa and Jim will tell you that there's a wolf, or maybe a bear, that shows up on the hillside across the wash once in awhile.  You can try and get a look at it through a pair of binoculars that they keep handy, but it remains mysteriously still and sort of resembles an old stump.

It's hard not to have a good time when you're away from the busy schedule, out in the open country, and sharing time with people you love.  But I forget how important these times away are.  It was a three hour drive from our place to theirs.  But along the way Jana and Jacob and I were able to actually talk with one another without the TV distracting us or a phone ringing.  Ok, we had a fight about where to stop for dinner, but even then, it's good to be able to work things out for the good of our relationship together.  Families, including ours, are pulled in lots of different directions, and it is good to take a drive and get away from the "bungee cords of requirement" for a while.

And how good it is to reconnect with family.  My son is an only child.  Alex is an only child.  They need to know that although they haven't grown up living in the same house, there is still a bond there that will follow them throughout life.  In the stories that are told about God's people, God rarely allows people to journey through this life alone.  David had Jonathan, Naomi had Ruth, Moses had Aaron, and Jesus made sure that he had at least 12 good friends plus others, including many women.  These people became family for each other.  God shows that divine love is demonstrated between people who share their lives with one another.

The alpacas on Lisa's ranch all live together in a fenced area where they are fed and given water, where they can comfort one another, and where they know they are safe.  The dogs can come and go, but they know that their job is to protect the vulnerable alpacas (there really are wolves in the region even if that one on the hill that looks like a stump may not be much of a threat!).  The goats play with each other, and the chickens even share a space with the peacocks.  Life on the ranch is communal.  Alex comes and goes between her house and her grandparent's.  And although they all take measures to avoid and remove some of the less-than-welcome critters...everyone recognizes that they share this corner of creation with each other.  Life abounds with blessing, and I'm glad I was able to be connected with it in this particular way for a couple of days.