The Sheep Alpaca Project

M.'s grandmother keeps a small amount of sheep and alpaca. We walked the walk of terror to get there and see them. They were pretty cool.
Walk of terror, you ask? Oh my god. It was my worst nightmare. It was terrible. My heart beat faster, my brain hurt and I felt dizzy and sick. Why? Oh, well, you know, TENT CATERPILLARS everywhere! I don't like to broadcast this particular fact because there are assholes in world who think irrational fears are fun to mess with. I disagree. Since I was 7 or 8, maybe a little later...I have been unable to stand the sight of tent or gypsy moth caterpillars. This is, at least in part, due to the blight/infestation my area of Maryland went through during that time period. Burlap sacks on all the trees. Barrels on fire with people stuffing tent after tent into the flames. I remember, specifically, my father and I gathering as many of the suckers as we could and putting them into a large jar of turpentine where they died a wriggling, awful death. It was a holocaust of caterpillars. Ooook! Guh. Guh. Yick. I tense my shoulders and cringe just writing about it. So getting to M.'s mother's house and finding the driveway/house/yard/every possible surface crawling with tent caterpillars really threw me for a loop. A terrible, stultifying and paralyzing loop. I was scared. I wanted to see the sheep/alpaca but in order to get there we had to walk down a path a path liberally strewn with live and recently deceased creepy crawlies. It was awful. Did I mention how awful it was? Oh shiver of all shivers. This alpaca's eyes are blue. Blue eyes in an alpaca suggest a high probability that they or their offspring will be deaf...not a good attribute for a species born to protect and guard their fellow fiber cows.
Luckily we didn't stay overnight there. I would not have been able to sleep in a house that could so easily be attacked and infiltrated by tent caterpillars. To take a photograph of the buggers would put me over the edge so there is no photographic proof. If you doubt me I'll let M. get in touch with you.

Me, I love a tent party.
Me, I love a tent camping trip (not during caterpillar season).
Me, I hate tent caterpillars...and most other caterpillars too. I fear they will get me.

Enough!