Dragon Shadow

Under the shadow of the dragon, they ran. A natural instinct it must be.  Sheep are supposed to run from dragons or be eaten by them! 
The winter wind on a sunny day called to Connor to come fly a kite.  Up to the highest height. Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring. Up through the atmosphere, up where the air is clear, oh let's go...(sing along!) Fly a kite! (Thanks, Mary Poppins.) We have two kites, at least we used to. A pirate ship and a dragon.  The dragon kite was the most accessible, so up in the air it went.  Not one consideration went to the sheep.  They had their faces down in the grass.

We've been using them as lawn mowers lately to get the grass under control in the front yard.  Using a portable net fence we move them around to chomp down the grass. So, about the time Connor decided to fly a kite, they were quite near to the house in the front yard.  They were grazing away as we tried to get the kite up into the wind. No reaction on their part. But as soon as we got that kite up high and over them, they ran as fast as they could back into the barn pen and around the corner where it was safe from the mean, flying dragon that might eat them. As long as we kept the kite up flying, the sheep were not coming back to graze in the front yard.  But, we were able to easily draw them back by dangling some fresh grass for them. We got their attention on food. How soon they forgot their fear. 

Were they really afraid of the dragon shadow? Or was it the rustling noise the kite made in the wind? Or something out of their normal realm of experience? Maybe it was all of the reasons.  No matter. The fear was forgotten quickly when they focused on something else. Are we able to do that? Can we simply forget something that we have been afraid of  like that?  Distractions are a powerful thing. They often pull us away from a purpose or goal.  But, perhaps not all distractions are bad? What about the ones that direct our attention away from fear to something better and healthier.  If we live in fear, we might not ever venture out to the front yard again to discover love, and wonder, friendships, and new goals.  

If it is a windy day again soon, I know that Connor will  want to get that dragon out again, and fly it over the sheep.  Will they be afraid again? Or keep their heads down clipping away at the grass on The Derby Farm.