Today I have another sad announcement. Those of you who have watched for a while know that our farm had a very old sheep named Dolly. Our senior Dolly passed away the other day.
As I mentioned when she appeared in a short video, Dolly was said to be over 20 — record-level long life for a sheep, though there’s no record of her actual birthday. She was running around happily right to the end.
How Dolly came to be here
I didn’t start out with Dolly. She was already on this land with two other sheep before I rented it. I was told, “It comes with a sheep — this land was set aside for keeping sheep,” and I said, “All right.” When I asked more, it turned out there should have been three sheep, but two had died before we came, and only Dolly was left. So we decided to make friends with our one sheep.
I knew nothing about sheep, so I felt my way along, worried about making her angry. In the end she had a very happy life — trampling the field and wiping out our tomatoes along the way.
When I told the landowner that Dolly had died, the owner came to pick her up, took one look and said, “Oh, she was healthy” — a small comfort. Dolly was taken to the owner’s farm and buried, and a big tree will be planted on top, so her life will carry on.
I’m telling you this from Dolly’s shelter: a natural cave of grass where she escaped the rain and wind. The grass grows over the top, so no rain falls here and nothing grows inside.
Remembering Dolly
Thank you to everyone who loved Dolly and cheered her on. She probably had no idea what YouTube was, but she always looked happily at the camera and came bouncing over, so I think it was good.
Dolly greeted us every morning: when she sensed people coming, she’d come out and call. She loved the leaves of the hale koa tree — she ate every low leaf, which is why the trees are so tall and thin, so I’d bend or cut branches for her. When I cut cucumbers, she came close to sniff. She made her own animal trails through the tall grass, a real maze, and popped out of nowhere to surprise us. She was a curious, smart, sweet sheep.
Meet Dolly
Dolly was our elderly sheep, said to be over 20. She came with the land, loved hale koa leaves, raided the garden, and welcomed us every morning.
Dolly, enjoy all the leaves you want in heaven. Rest well, Dolly.