Soul Shine

They say that llamas can read a person's soul simply by looking them in the eye.  LLamas are thought to be so perceptive that they can tell whether you are pure at heart or not and they are the type to judge. 

I was fortunate enought to grow up with two llamas in the backyard.  They were kind hearted and somewhat fecicious animals.  It may seem strange that the chosen Thompson family pets happened to be soul searching spiritual animals, but as my dad will tell you, it made us we were. The prescense of these phenomenal animals defined us as a family. 

This is poignant today because lately I have been spending a lot of time with the last of the Llamas from my childhood.  He is sick and dying and for the first time in years, he allows us to sit beside him and rub his neck and talk to him.  For years Ira has been to afraid of humans and has not let any of us come near him.  He has however, allowed us to stand near him while he came up to us.  He would always look a person in the eye and if you seemed good, in some way or another, he would come closer and give you a llama kiss on the cheek.

I named this blog soul shine, because for the majority of my life, I have thought of these amazing creatures in our backyard as the ultimate judges of character.  My siblings and I, we have pure souls.  We were fortunate enough to grow up with such spiritual pets.  And this summer when I heard the Allman Brothers song "Soul Shine" I thought of these animals that have so brilliantly touched my life.  " You gotta have Soul shine.  It's better than sunshine, better than moonshine and damn sure better than rain."