Alpaca...lunch

From a farm in Ireland to the 4-H fairgrounds behind my apartment complex in Massachusetts, it seems that our inescapable reality is animals. In this case, Emma managed to scope out an alpaca obstacle course and exhibition occurring just a scant 100m behind our apartment and we decided to walk over with one of the kids.

It's fascinating to see the culture that surrounds a specific type of animal. We generally find clusters around llamas and alpacas and then again around cows, horses, bunnies, sheep, and goats. It's an interesting offset between the two with some overlaps here and there. Obviously the presence of the 4-H clubs and other organisations loosely coupled to more agrarian lifestyles has done much to preserve and promote this type of animal husbandry and, in a day and age where a mobile phone acts as a portal to whatever fantasy world we choose to enjoin, this perfectly analogue experience is delightful.

We give up a lot of ourselves for the sake of information access. As I noted above, one of my daughters decided to brave the heat and venture out with us while the other stayed back, glued to the alternate reality of a book or other digital distraction. I don't believe it's escapism of any sort; rather, I see the proclivity for exploration and curiousity being sated in different ways. There's no real moral polarities here as each has its own merits and meaningfulness.

All considered, though, in a week that has brought us new challengers into the space of digital community (e.g. Threads), we're adding yet another tool, yet another portal of believability and information into an already crowded mix. Which ends up winning is beside the point; at a certain level, the race to information democratization has already been won by all of us.

Data has become a ubiquitous currency of human experience. However, it still cannot full encompass the sights, sounds, smells, and feelings of grass between the toes, the softest fur run between your fingers, the gentle huff of a llama's breathing, and the pungency of people gathered together under the pines.

I could opine in many different directions here and, indeed, I have. From lemonade stands to the 4-H club, these seminal experiences of human interaction and development are worth spending the extra moments between waking and sleeping on.

Take some time this weekend to feel. Step barefoot on a brick layed path, run your fingers through the tender blades of growing grass, smell a rose, delight in the calls of sparrows and jays, and ground yourself in the present. Let your waking and your sleeping become the arms that embrace life in all of its forms.

May it ever be so.

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