28th April - Day 43 - “Everything depends on upbringing. ” Leo Tolstoy

Having cycled each day past several large green fields with lambs and their Mums in, I always try and have a quick look to see if the few sheep and lambs living in the rough wooded area are also visible. Before you ask - they are not the escapees - I’m sure that they are meant to be there!

I stopped to take today’s picture and by doing so got a real sense of the different landscapes the lambs are living in. Interestingly, the lambs here also haven’t had their tails docked - but I definitely don’t want to get into a whole debate about the risk of fly strike v docking.

Instead, what it did make me think about was the difference between the flat green pasture and the steep slopes, bracken and hawthorn that this one has to negotiate. I’m sure the muscles of the lambs grow stronger in the wood than the field (and dare I say it - the meat therefore tastier) but I’m not sure.

As Tolstoy said, perhaps everything is upbringing and struggles early on, may well make for stronger lambs or people - or not. I know I still see going out for a meal as a significant ‘treat’ and holidays as a luxury rather than a necessity, not because I struggle to be able to afford them now but because my parents did then.

Appreciating what we have is often about recognising the most valuable things in life. I’m sure if the lambs can find their Mum’s milk and stay close to her at night, they are oblivious to their different surroundings. Appreciating our own lives surely also has to be about helping other people to be strong, regardless of their background. Or, perhaps more importantly, it should be about creating a fairer world where nobody has to see water, food, a house, education, health or love as unobtainable luxuries.