Harry settled into his new life at the farm. He was only eight months old when my parents got him. Mom and dad made sure they handled him daily so he was manageable. Harry was great. Mom would occasionally walk him from the barn to the house if we had company, and let the kids (and adults-don’t let them tell you otherwise) pet him and feed him raisins. Harry was a guard animal but he was also a pet of sorts, right along with the ewes who would come right up to you in the barn for head scratches. Harry was great and we loved him dearly, especially my mom who was the one who handled him most often.
One week when my parents were out of town, my husband and my oldest daughter, who was in first grade, were staying at the farm. They took care of the feeding and then he would take her to school in Middletown where he worked. I stayed at home with our youngest daughter who was in kindergarten and went to school locally.
On Monday morning, I got our daughter onto the school bus and drove into Middletown to open the hardware store. At some point, I got a phone call from my husband. He had opened the front door to leave and Harry, the llama, was standing there. Understand, that the barn is about a quarter mile from the house. Also, Harry was not very fond of men. This left my first grader to handle the situation. Harry loved raisins but they were in the barn. Harry had a halter on but there was no way my husband was going to be able to grab it and my daughter was too small. I told him I could NOT make that phone call to my parents; he had to get the llama back into the barn. After work we would try and figure out how he got out.
I called the school and explained to a very amused secretary that my daughter would be late and why. I’m sure they had never had that excuse before. My husband and my daughter got a lead on Harry and got him back to the barn. My husband dropped our daughter off at school and then went to work. When he got to work he walked into his boss’s office, sat down, and said, “I’ve got an excuse for being late that you’ve never heard in your life.” He boss loved it and they got on with their day.
We found where Harry had gotten out and fixed it and never said a word to my parents until they were home. They got a kick out of the story and I didn’t have to make THAT phone call.
My Patio 