Let Me Be A Potato

“450 SHEEP JUMP TO THEIR DEATHS” read a recent headline in a Turkish newspaper.

According to the article, first, one sheep jumped, then stunned Turkish shepherds, who had left the herd to graze while they had breakfast, watched as nearly 1,500 others followed, each leaping off the same cliff.

In the end, 450 animals lay on top of one another in a billowy white pile. Those who jumped later were saved as the mound got higher and cushioned the fall.

“There’s nothing we can do. They’re all gone,” said a member of one of 26 families whose sheep were grazing together in the herd.

“Every family had an average of 20 sheep,” said another villager. “But now only a few families have sheep left. It’s going to be hard for us.”-1

For those families, sheep herding is more than an occupation. It’s a way of life, unfamiliar to most of us — passed through the centuries from one generation to the next. Sadly,…