Shearing

When they say "we're shearing this week" at home in NSW they literally mean they will have the shearers there for a week, the shed will be full of sheep - that get run in in a stop and start flood kind of a way and trickle out a sheep from a stand at a time.
Well they don't really trickle out as in slide - fall or stumble out.
For those who have never been in a shearing shed running at full throttle it is hard to explain what it is that makes it such a fantastic place to be.
In part I think it's the noise - hand pieces make a noise like nothing else... they -well what is the noise - they thrum is the best word I can think of it... then there's the smell, sheep and wool - and by the end of the day bloke - and there is always an element of danger - they don't have a kill (as in the blades - not the sheep) pull on the motors for nothing.
And maybe it's just that if you're in a shed and your standing still or you're not helping out then you're just in the way. In the shed it's a bit of a case of pitch in or piss off.
We had shearing here in Harford this week... all 9 girls - yes 9.
And the thing about shearing from my point of view is that the best thing is the reason to legitimately work a dog. There's is nothing like working a dog at the best of times - but working them for fun is one thing - working them to get a job done is another.
I have no shed and stand here so the farmer next door kindly lets me use his. It is a fantastic little shed with everything you need and a few things you don't - like wall paper on all the walls on account of the fact that is was a little weatherboard house until 50 years ago or so - so the sheep come in through the kitchen - wait in the bedroom - and exit through the lounge.
But the thing I love about it is working the sheep up the road - down the drive of the farm and into the shed... thank you red dog.
And when the sheep have been run through, they're shawn, they're drenched and treated for lice, then you and your dog walk them home again.
And something happens on that walk and in the shed, and I don't know what it is - but there is a satisfaction at the end of it that you can feel in the soles of your feet and in the sun on your hat as you walk back down the road, dog at your heels "get behind red" and the sun shining and stock well cared for... for a little while life is very simple and very good. Maybe it is just that when you're working a dog - or moving stock - you can only do one thing at a time. Life making life simple.