The Sound of Spring

Spring is a season of music. The earth wakes from its winter slumber, and her children celebrate with song. For many people, the “sound of spring” is a chorus of birds singing to the rising sun, the call of Canada geese as they return North to nest and raise their young, or the cacophony of frogs that lull us to sleep at night, but for me, the music of spring is heard in the lambing barn, a strange and wonderful lullaby sung by mother sheep.

From March through May, our lives revolve around sheep. We spend more time at the barn than at the house, helping our flock bring new lambs into the world. The long hours and hard work are taxing, but the “mother song” of the sheep makes the work lighter. From the moment of birth, the ewes talk to their their new babes with a deep, gravelly murmur and the lambs bleat insistently in a high, plaintive voice. These “conversations” last only a few weeks, until the lambs are independent and sure of themselves, then the din subsides and the flock is placid and soft-spoken once more. Like the magic that is spring, the sounds of lambing must be treasured, along with the budding of the daffodils and the greening of the trees it is one of the rare gifts of spring.

One of my favorite authors, Yorkshire veterinarian James Herriot, beautifully captures the essence of this time of year in his book, “All Things Bright and Beautiful:”

“I turned and made my way down the hillside, my arms raw and chafing in my sleeves, my cheeks whipped by the eternal wind gusting over the grass. At the gate, I stopped and gazed back at the wide landscape, ribbed and streaked by the last of the winter’s snow, and at the dark grey banks of cloud riding across the wind followed by lakes of brightest blue; and in seconds the fields and walls and woods burst into vivid life as I had to close my eyes against the sun’s glare. As I stood there the distant uproar came faintly down to me, the tumultuous harmony from deepest bass to highest treble; demanding, anxious, angry, loving. The sound of sheep, the sound of spring.”