Saturday I made my way up to Soldierhollow for the "premiere sheepdog contest." The Championship will not be until today, but I managed to see how a few shepherds and their best time enjoy themselves the most.
The crowds were one of the more entertaining aspects of the event. Most remarks seemed sincere, although comical -- especially with temperatures in the high 90s without relief from the relentless sun.
Overheard at the second day of sheepdog hill herding trials:
"Those lousy stinking sheep."
"If you had ever chased a sheep around and tried to get it to go where you wanted it to go, you'd appreciate sheep herding more."
"What are they doing?"
"Come on, get in there."
"That dog looks dog-tired."
There was an amazing sense of community in the stands. Complete strangers shared their water, sun-block and food with one another. The crowd was stacked on both ends of the age spectrum -- lots of grandparents and toddlers watched the event. They were all well-behaved.
The over-arching influence of the film industry really tickled me. Each section of onlookers would occasionally mention Babe (the famous sheep herding pig) and his secret code that would require lambs do as he asked -- when he asked nicely. "Baa-ram-ewe" was said with a gleeful tone -- perhaps the only time they would ever be able to fittingly apply the term in a real-life situation? But they all knew the phrase and why they should say it. Those "stinking" sheep simply would refuse to be closed in a small pen.
It felt wonderful to be outside and enjoy a little bit of the sheep herding culture.
