He spoke sparse and terribly broken English, I speak sparse and terribly broken Spanish, but we still managed to have a twenty minute long conversation while standing on the edge of the flock he was tending with the help of his three dogs. This will be his tenth year shepherding in Idaho. He’ll travel home to Chile in the new year. I fell in love, just a little, with his Great Pyrenees who has a sweet heart and a proud, hard working spirit. Shepherds have one of the oldest occupations in the world and I was glad to meet this one personally. I hope he’s warm in his shepherd caravan tonight, out there in the cold hills above the South Fork of the Snake River where the the grip of the wind can rip steel. And I hope the coyotes keep their distance while they sing their feral lullabies to all the gentle lambs.