Harmony in the herd and joy in the Jell-O

By Nellie Curtiss ….

The Siberian Huskies on the ranch were howling as snowflakes piled up in the corral around the hoof-stomping goats and sleepy sheep.

Bartholomew the boxer ran to the lip (the grill) of the 3100 Chevy truck to look around and see if the super moon was still huge in the sky. He could barely make out the shimmer of the moon as the air like a macramé curtain was saturated with inches of snow.  The Colorado Blue Spruces were peering around each other to catch a glimpse of the moon through the veil and they wondered, too, just what the moon was up to.

Bessie the Border Collie didn’t howl or growl, at all. She stood behind the Boxer and the Spruces; and she was ready to herd them all if she needed to get them out of the way of the moon. 

“What’s happening,” Bessie asked

“I don’t know,” replied Bartholomew “But it is certainly curious for December 24. Don’t you think so?”

“It’s a cycle,” Mrs. Spruce said.

“I think it is a circle of sorts,” said Mr. Spruce.

“Is it curious or not?” Bessie asked with a tilt of her head.

But just about that time, Cathy, the milk cow, called to her calf.  “Get ready. It’s coming,” she mooed.

Then as if a choir in the mall, Bartholomew, Bessie and the Spruces sang out: “What’s coming? What’s coming?”

Cathy wasn’t too sure. She had heard the Aspens talking earlier as they quaked and swayed in the wind. “I heard it through the barn boards,” she said.

Caleb, her calf, said, “It could be a new cub, pup, calf or maybe it’s a new idea!” He seemed filled with wonder as he studied what “It’s coming” meant.

Bart ruffled his whole body and barked, “It’s exciting; that’s what it is, exciting. Just exciting.”

Bessie lowered her head and offered, “I can smell a difference in the air. It’s as if the snow is cleaning out the air; removing the dirt that was drifting by, I think.”

Across the blanketed pasture, the critters all heard the rumble of the family SUV barreling down the county road.  Hanging out the back door a thin-needled pine tree tossed about.

As the family unloaded things along with the six-foot tree, the animals could hear the conversation.

The child said, “I’m so excited!”

The mother said, “I know; I am too.”

The father said, “Well, I am too.”

One after the other, they entered the back door of the 200-year-old house that creaked a little as they giggled and shut the door.

Cathy was wondering, “What are they excited about?”

Bessie took up the thought, too, “Yeah. Maybe it is spilling over into us!”

Caleb couldn’t hold still and jumped in the air just missing his mother’s side, “Yippee! I’m excited too.”

“We could say, The Times They Are a Changing,” tooted Bart.

With a chuckle, Mrs. Spruce shivered a limb of snow onto the yard, “You are right; it is catchy and exciting.”

So, the evening went on and the moon welcomed the stars and meteorites as the snow clouds moved over the mountains to let the sky breath again.  Some thought they had tinnitus in the ears as their ears were ringing somewhat. But what was happening was the exciting joy that spreads through families, animals, mountains, trees, rivers, lakes, oceans, and continents and through the universe.

This family was welcoming a group from the town’s homeless shelter, and folks visiting from Sudan and Ghana in Africa; their joy of sharing was culminating in the sheer joy of air, of needles on a tree, the aroma snow leaves on the acre and the energy that melts from living thing to living thing.  

First the Chevy Astro Minivan arrived and then an old Cadillac El Dorado came.  There were handshakes, hugs, and grins.  Guests carried green cheerful Jell-O, pot roasts and Strawberry-Rhubarb pies.

“It’s exciting,” the sheep baaed as the goats walked closer and closer to the fence.

“I can hear them singing,” sdaid Bart. 

Then Bart, Bessie, The Spruces, Cathy, Caleb and all the animals laid down in quiet peace.  The world was harmonizing, it seemed. Cathy was content to have her herd close and still.

Joy To the World flowed from the house out onto the pasture, the corral and across every ear of every living thing.

— Nelda Curtiss is a retired college educator and long-time local columnist. Reach her at columnsbynellie.com or email her at columnsbynellie@gmail.com

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Then Bart, Bessie, The Spruces, Cathy, Caleb and all the animals laid down in quiet peace.  The world was harmonizing, it seemed. Cathy was content to have her herd close and still.