I'm in love with a shearer...

If you haven't heard the T-Pain song then I don't think you'll understand. Now, I hate the T-Pain song, it's just stupid. But it has a catchy beat and the concept of being infatuated with someone because of the work that they do "could" have some merit. However, the job in question is important and in T-Pain's version....we'll just say...really, if that's all you could get excited about then you need to seriously ther might be an issue!

Anyways, I digress... back to the concept. So, the shearer...

The shearer in New Zealand is the equivalent of the cowboy in the US. This is a labor intensive job, that requires a great deal of skill and the shearing of at least 350 sheep per day. Wow, right? I can't think of anything that I do 350 times a day other than breathe. Shearing involves removing the coat of wool on a lamb. There are 3 lamb for every one person in New Zealand. There is also the hearding of sheep and other work related to the ongoing maintenance and production of the farm for which this person is responsible. All in all I would say it's fairly demanding.




This love affair came about during my visit to a local New Zealand farm. New Zealand is rich with farm land (most of it man made) and is considered a top farming and agricultural producing country. We visited the farm, saw some of the most interesting animals (which I fed and stood amongst). I was shoulder to shoulder with a lama and was almost knocked down by two sheep running across a hitch.... still not sure how I feel about that. I witnessed the "cycle of lamb and wool" from the baby lamb to the lamb chop I had for dinner later that evening. I went into a store called the Wool Barn that was full of different types of wool and yarn from the floor to the ceiling (something I felt unprepared for and needed to channel my inner Jean Frank). I also saw an award winning hearding dog that was fierce (my mom wants one for her school...).

But, back to the love affair...... hardworking, handsome, and humorous. A great combination!

A picture of my dinner later that evening in honor of the shearer. And before everyone says "aww.....not the little lamb", I would like to remind you of all the hefers, chicken, and other animals you've likely eaten in your day. As my friend Paris says, "it was mmm, mmm good".