Our Adventure (subtitle: Victimized by Large Brown Eyes!)

December 2004

Come join us on our alpaca adventure! We're brand new, and this website is our attempt to let you experience alpaca ownership almost firsthand as we grow into a real live alpaca farm! If you are reading about and researching these animals, you have already begun an exciting journey into this new world.

So why alpacas for us? We'll tell you in a minute. But first, don't ask our children or my mom about our decision, because they will tell you I am having a serious mid-life crisis and need psychiatric counseling and that my husband is so in love with his wife he would do anything for her! I can see their point. After all, I'm 55 and my husband Dan is 54. In the space of a few short months we sold a beautiful waterfront home in Southern Maryland where I had lived for over thirty years. We bought acreage in Virginia, just over the bridge really, and started creating a farm. The two of us put in all the fence poles...and holes..., designed and built the barn (hmmm...you should know my husband is the designer and chief builder, but I am a really good assistant!), and had a house built. I have quit teaching, a job I have loved and done for 29 years, and have become a full time farm manager/owner. What is it about these animals that could cause a menopausal woman and her devoted husband to make that kind of lifestyle change? Let me assure you, it goes far beyond hormones!

Our adventure actually began the summer of 2003 when I passed an alpaca farm sign on my way to my mom's summer home in Ocean City, Maryland. I'd see the sign and briefly wonder what the heck an alapaca was. Fruitlessly I'd sneak a quick peek into the fields as I flew by. I was always disappointed as I never saw a thing, and then I'd promptly forget about them in my eagerness to reach the beach. From time to time during those hectic summer days I'd think about alpacas and vow to look them up on the internet. I never did, and I NEVER saw the commercial!

October, 2003, Dan and I were visiting the fall bazaar in Thurmont, Maryland with family and friends. After a very long shopping day milling amongst the hundreds of shoppers in the streets, we were finally heading back to our vehicles with our purchases. It was then I saw an alpaca farm sign along the sidewalk and, in a small enclosure there on someone's lawn was a mother alpaca with baby. Finally my curiosity would be satisfied! I hollered to Dan to follow me and off I went to meet my destiny. I wish I could remember the farm's name and the knowledgeable man who introduced me to his animals and answered my questions. I don't. I do, however, remember large, curious brown eyes, a quiet kind of elegance, and a gentle demeanor. (The alpaca's - not the man's.) I'm sure I stared for quite a while; I was mesmerized by the mother's eyes. She seemed to be staring into my soul, and I got the distinct impression I passed whatever test she was silently administering. I was falling quickly! I came out of my trance to realize my husband was now standing by my side and asking, "What's that?" I related what I had learned as he pulled me forcibly from the lawn and hurried me towards the others. He patronizingly agreed to look alpacas up on the internet with me when we got home, if only I would hurry up and leave!

We were too exhausted that night, but a few nights later I came home from work to discover my husband, true to his word, had been busily investigating alpacas on the internet. He had downloaded pages of information for me to read about investment potential and tax advantages and had visited several farm sites, all of which were now marked in my "favorites" folder. He hurried me through dinner so he could show me all he had found. It actually took us several nights to reread all he had saved. That began a ritual. Each night found us in front of the computer "oohing" and "ahhing" over the animals and eagerly reading stories of how busy professionals, grandmothers, truckdrivers, newlyweds and millionaires had found these animals and started their own alpaca adventures. The next logical step was to go visiting.

We did. We saw many farms in many places, learning something new at each one. Eventually we settled on a farm where we would buy our starter herd. Here is my first piece of advice to aspiring alpaca owners - find a farm owned by people you can build a friendship with and whom you trust, for those people should bear the responsibility of successfully guiding you into this unfamiliar world. We intend to be those kind of people for our clients! And a quick second piece of advice - if you're an animal lover, and I hope you are if you're getting into this business, watch the animals on the farms. You'll be able to tell if they are happy and well taken care of. Look for happy animals! And now we're here, just 14 months later as I am writing this, and we're busy living the rest of the adventure. Our herd is here, with four more on the way tomorrow (December 9) which will bring our starter herd to 3 weanlings, 4 yearlings, 1 maiden female, 4 expectant moms, and 2 herdsires ready to do their thing this spring! Please call and come visit. We love sharing our alpacas with you!

The Ride

A few weeks ago I enjoyed a leisurely tractor ride as I mowed one of our fields. The morning was crisp with just the right mixture of sunshine and breeze. Far from the jingling of the phone and the myriad responsibilities awaiting me, I plowed along in mindless comfort. Suddenly a grasshopper, against all odds, landed squarely on the hood of my John Deere. From his vantage point high atop the tractor, he surveyed his entire world, a view he had probably never seen and might never be afforded again. As he stayed with me for most of the ride, I could not help but ponder the similarities between that grasshopper and myself. (It seems early morning tractor rides bring out the philosopher in me. Who knew?

What had inspired this grasshopper to make such a gigantic leap? While the other grasshoppers were making short, frantic sideways jumps to avoid the onslaught of the tractor tires, this grasshopper, without benefit of reason, took a leap of faith and ended up far above his peers, enjoying a sight and a ride they would likely never experience.

I am 55. I have led a grasshopper life, jumping from school to school for teaching assignments over my 29 years in education. I have scurried from one hobby to another, acquiring a great many skills, but using none of them to change my direction. Now, when I am admittedly in the throes of menopause, (and in serious need of psychiatric counseling if you ask my sons and my mom) I make a leap of faith, just like the grasshopper, and end up on the ride of my life. I am a new alpaca rancher, and I am along for the ride.

How that grasshopper must have felt riding that tractor, moving along effortlessly, faster than he had ever moved before, in directions he had never taken, to places he had never seen! He must have been exhilarated and excited and a little afraid. How like that grasshopper I am. It has been a whirlwind ride this year. In twelve months my husband and I have sold our waterfront home, bought land, built a new home and a barn, fenced in some of our 13 + acres, searched for and bought our foundation herd, found a vet with camelid experience, found a feed source, learned about and bought hay, researched our soil...and the list goes on. I can barely take in all the changes. No longer a teacher-I am a business owner, a rancher. Who ever imagined that now, with my life half over, at a time when most people retire and move to slower paced lifestyles, I would take this direction?

But if you were to ask me my feelings, they would mirror those I imagined the grasshopper had. I am exhilarated by the newness of it all. Every day I learn something more about alpacas, fiber or spinning and the teacher in me is still thrilled by learning. I am excited to have these wonderful, gentle animals to care for and share my home with, and excited also by the prospect of being able to introduce others to God’s most perfect livestock. And yes, I am afraid, but each day lessens those fears as I grow in confidence. At first I was afraid of the financial commitment and the risk. What if we never sold an alpaca? Now, I feel confident the likelihood of that happening is small. Thanks to the efforts of organizations like AOBA and MAPACA, alpaca raising is quickly becoming an industry worth investigating and, judging by the number of new farms, will afford many opportunities for sales and growth. Besides, we continue to follow the advice of our mentors, the Fredricksens, and will continue seeking their counsel as we pursue our alpaca adventure. Even if we never did sell an alpaca, how is that bad? We will have gained friendships and a new home in a peaceful valley that we get to share with our alpacas. We will get to experience births, alpaca kisses, and the frolicking of the youngsters. Each morning my husband and I will look out at our fields and feel proud of what we have accomplished as the autumn of our years approaches. Not a bad life.

Yes, like the grasshopper, I am definitely along for the ride and enjoying the sights and life only the boldest grasshoppers will ever enjoy.