Shepherd, Watch your Flock
Wanted: One shepherd. Preferably one who will not fall asleep on the job. Must also have a sheep dog with a loud bark. All those interested apply to the local flocks in Huesca.
The shepherd passing with his flock outside Huesca last week, on his way to the summer pastures in the Pyrenees, was lacking in those attributes. The sheep, probably with a longing for a night on the town, decided to go off on their own while their shepherd slumbered. So, someone who was probably having trouble sleeping decided to get up and look out his window at the sleeping town and started counting sheep. Literally.
Huesca police got a call at four thirty in the morning saying that a large number of sheep were travelling into town. The large number was around thirteen hundred sheep. Slowly, the police rounded up the herd and took it outside town, where they found the slumbering shepherd, probably dreaming of the sheep he thought were still surrounding him. At seven o'clock the town was cleared and the shepherd woken by a police officer to tell him about the adventures he had missed during the night.
Yes, flocks still travel from winter pastures to summer pastures. And vice-versa. And they need to be led by shepherds. There is a need for shepherds at this moment, and job announcements can be found on the internet. Of course, most young people, when thinking about their future, think about vocational school or college and some kind of job where they work inside a building. For many, learning to be a shepherd is like learning to weave baskets: of little use in the job market.
There is actually a shepherding school in Onís, Asturias, way up in the Picos de Europa mountains. This year classes began on 15 May. It consists of sixty hours of classes where the students study different subjects, from agrarian policies, to veterinary medicine, to elaboration of dairy products, to animal physiology. From 1 June to 30 September they get practical learning working with the actual flocks. It's a select school. After sending in the application, the aspiring shepherds are interviewed, and note is taken of their physical capabilities and their vocational leanings. Not everybody who applies gets in. It seems a person has the same chance of getting in as of getting into an Ivy League university.
So, no, the old ways of living aren't completely dead. But they will be if shepherds start sleeping on their jobs.
The shepherd passing with his flock outside Huesca last week, on his way to the summer pastures in the Pyrenees, was lacking in those attributes. The sheep, probably with a longing for a night on the town, decided to go off on their own while their shepherd slumbered. So, someone who was probably having trouble sleeping decided to get up and look out his window at the sleeping town and started counting sheep. Literally.
Huesca police got a call at four thirty in the morning saying that a large number of sheep were travelling into town. The large number was around thirteen hundred sheep. Slowly, the police rounded up the herd and took it outside town, where they found the slumbering shepherd, probably dreaming of the sheep he thought were still surrounding him. At seven o'clock the town was cleared and the shepherd woken by a police officer to tell him about the adventures he had missed during the night.
Yes, flocks still travel from winter pastures to summer pastures. And vice-versa. And they need to be led by shepherds. There is a need for shepherds at this moment, and job announcements can be found on the internet. Of course, most young people, when thinking about their future, think about vocational school or college and some kind of job where they work inside a building. For many, learning to be a shepherd is like learning to weave baskets: of little use in the job market.
There is actually a shepherding school in Onís, Asturias, way up in the Picos de Europa mountains. This year classes began on 15 May. It consists of sixty hours of classes where the students study different subjects, from agrarian policies, to veterinary medicine, to elaboration of dairy products, to animal physiology. From 1 June to 30 September they get practical learning working with the actual flocks. It's a select school. After sending in the application, the aspiring shepherds are interviewed, and note is taken of their physical capabilities and their vocational leanings. Not everybody who applies gets in. It seems a person has the same chance of getting in as of getting into an Ivy League university.
So, no, the old ways of living aren't completely dead. But they will be if shepherds start sleeping on their jobs.
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| The sheep being shepherded out of Huesca by the police. (photo El País) |
I took a shepherding course in Yorkshire. I don't see a career change.
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