Black Sheep Gathering

I was lucky enough to make it to Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, Oregon this summer (my first in three years). I helped Jan McMahon fit and show, but she had so much of the hard work done before I got there, it felt like cheating. As a teenager, I remember going over to Jan's house a whole week before Blacksheep, helping her fit and talking about sheep. She would tell me all kinds of stories about the beginning of Blacksheep, about the beginnings of the National Colored Wool Growers Association. She would tell me all the secrets she had learned over the years; what to do, what not to do. Six days full of nothing but sheep. I loved every minute. I still do. All through high school and college, I could count on Jan and Neil to have me for that week every summer. I could count on learning new secrets, little tidbits of information, and perhaps earn a few extra bucks. They weren't easy days by any stretch of the imagination. We would get up early, work all day taking coats off, putting coats on, then Neil would finally call us back in when it got too dark to see anymore. Jan would get the grill ready for the lamb chops that had been marinating in her well-stocked fridge (the door is usually so full and heavy, that it swings violently wide and hits the wall if you don't watch it). I would help set the table, bring out the food, the butter, the salt, then the three of us would sit on the back deck and eat while the sun went down. Usually, on about day three, Neil would bring home The Magic Ultrasound machine for my right arm. "Mild joint fatigue and swelling due to repetative motion", he would say, which always made Jan and I laugh a little. She even gave me a squeeze ball once as a present, in order for me to practice in the "off season". I was so happy to go this year, even though I couldn't have that week, I still got to go to the show and be part of something I had missed for a long time. Remember, this year, I was armed with my pink camera! This is a picture of Neil playing with a new camera he had just bought, while our friend Steve laughs at Neil and I taking pictures of each other from across the show ring.