Jimmy Sheep and the Embraceable Ewes

Jimmy Sheep and the Embraceable Ewes

dedicated to Sondra Grizzlyfingers, Sir Charles of Evans, and JPB - who better have done the 50 mile route today!

There once was a Greek boy from the town of Lebanon.His name was Jimmy Sheep. Jimmy liked to run. No, Jimmy loved to run. He ran for the love of it. He did not care about how fast he ran  or how far  he ran. Running just made him feel good. Everyday, early in the morning,  he would put on his nylon shorts and singlet running shirt (you know the kind with no sleeves, that looks like an undershirt) and he would run.

He ran all over town. People in Lebanon got a little curious, because he looked like he was running around in his underwear. They began to follow him in their cars to see what he was up to. Some wondered that because it was so early in the morning maybe he was having a case of sleepwalking.  Maybe he was getting out of bed and running all over town in his shorts and singlet that looked like an underwear. Maybe he loved running so much he was not just sleepwalking, he was sleep running! Would it be safe to wake him up as he ran?

Finally one man got up enough courage to drive his truck up along side as he ran and said, “Hey, what are you doing running all over town in your underwear? Are you crazy?”

Jimmy answered, “I am not crazy, I am Greek! I am only a little bit crazy and a whole lot stubborn.” The man went back and told all the others that there wa nothing wrong, there was just this Greek kid who was a little bit crazy and a whole lot stubborn running around in his running clothes.

Pretty soon Jimmy ran out of roads to run on in Lebanon. He started to run on road outside of town. Other folks in other towns began to see him running. They would point at him and say, “Hey, thats that crazy Lebanese kid that runs everywhere!”

Jimmy Sheep would say, “I am NOT Lebanese, I am Greek. I am only a little bit crazy and a whole lot stubborn!”

On his runs, Jimmy Sheep would run by farms. He would see cows. He would see horses. He would see goats. One day he saw sheep. Beautiful sheep! Fluffy, white, cute and cuddly were the sheep he saw. He was amazed that there was an animal that had his last name. He knew that he had to have sheep of his own.

He ran home and started bugging his parents. His mother said, ‘You are crazy!”

Jimmy said, “I am not crazy, I am Greek! I am only a little bit crazy, and a whole lot stubborn!”

And his mother said, “Well, I am Greek too and I can be just as stubborn, no sheep!”

But JImmy Sheep was stubborn-er. He kept bugging his Mom and Dad about sheep. For a whole year it was nothing but sheep this and sheep that. Slowly he was wearing them down. They decided that he had to prove that he was ready for sheep. He had to learn about different breeds of sheep. He had to build a pen, and a sheep shed for the sheep. He had to use the Internet to learn how to take care of them. He went to the library and found a book by a famous French shepherd - “Sheep in the Barn by I. Scoop dePoop”.

Finally after all his work, his parents decided that he had proven he was ready and allowed him to get sheep. He got three female sheep, which became known as the Embraceable Ewes. Every morning he would put on his running clothes and his rubber barn boots and go out and feed, water and take care of the sheep. He then would switch to his running shoes and take off for his runs. All around towns he was now known as that crazy Lebanese Suburban Shepherd, to which he always replied,  “I am not Lebanese, I am Greek! I am only a little bit crazy and a whole lot of stubborn!”

Day after day he took care of his sheep and then went out on his runs. He began to notice that the sheep looked a little sad. He was not sure but he thought they were trying to tell him something. One day he swore that when they bleated out their morning greetings they were saying, “We are saaaaaad. We want to have laaaaaambs. We need to have husbaaaaaands.”

Jimmy Sheep thought about this. He realized that he would also like to have some lambs around next spring. He needed to find husbands for the Embraceable Ewes. In his Internet research about raising sheep, Jimmy Sheep had found that the best and strongest kind of sheep were Rocky Mountain Sheep. They lived high in the mountains in the USA and Canadian Rockies. Jimmy thought that if he was going to find husbands for his sheep, he wanted the best and the strongest sheep.

Jimmy Sheep had also run across another Internet reference about a man called Terry Fox. At the time Jimmy did not think much about it except that this man also loved to run, and that he also had an animal as his last name, same as Jimmy.

He read further about Terry Fox  and learned he was a famous Canadian runner. As a young man Terry Fox was an athlete who played many sports. He was best at basketball. One day he hurt his knee and it would not get better. When he had it checked out, it was found that he had cancer in his leg. The only chance to save his life was to try to stop the cancer from spreading. The doctors would have to cut off his leg. Bravely, Terry decided to take this dramatic step.

As he recovered in the hospital and got fitted for an artificial leg, Terry made friends with other cancer patients. While he was getting better, some of them got worse, and sadly they died. Terry never forgot how brave they were. He tried to understand why he had been saved but others had to die from this disease.

Terry learned that there was not enough money going into research that could lead to cures from cancer. He decided that when he was well enough to run with his artificial leg, he would do something to raise money to fight cancer. He decided that he would try to run all the way across Canada, artificial leg and all. He would ask every Canadian to give $1 to fight cancer. At the time there were about 24 million people living in Canada. Terry was going to try to raise $24 million dollars!

Terry started his run and the people of Canada got all excited about it. They all got behind him as he ran from the east to the west. Unfortunately, Terry Fox never finished his run. About 3/4 of the way across, Terry discovered that he was again sick from cancer. Even with taking his leg and with follow up treatment, the cancer had come back. This time it took his life and he never finished his run.

It was sad, but Terry’s run made an impression on the Canadian people. Jimmy Sheep learned that the Canadian people were so proud of Terry Fox’s bravery that there are statues of Terry all along the route he ran, and runners who run the route every year to continue to raise money to fight cancer. There is even a mountain in Canada named after Terry Fox!

Jimmy Sheep was still thinking about his problem of finding husbands for the Embraceable Ewes when he remembered Terry Fox’s story. All of a sudden it hit him! He could run from Lebanon, up through New York and then across Canada just like Terry Fox did. He could run to Mount Terry Fox, find Rocky Mountain sheep and get some to come back with him to be husbands for the Embraceable Ewes. It would be great! He could tackle two things at once! He could run and run and run and run and at the end he would find husbands for the Embraceable Ewes!

When he told people about his idea, they said, “You ARE, crazy!”

Jimmy Sheep said, “I am not crazy, I am Greek! I am only a little crazy and a whole lot stubborn!”

And off he went running in his running singlet and nylon shorts. When people saw him on the road in New York and Canada they stopped him and asked why he was running around in his underwear. When he told them he was running across Canada they said, “Oh, you are that crazy Lebanese kid!”

Jimmy Sheep said, “I am not Lebanese! I am not crazy! I am Greek! I am only a little crazy and a whole lot stubborn!”

As he ran he told the story of Terry Fox and how he ran to fight cancer. He asked people to donate money to fight cancer. He ran and ran and ran.

Finally he was at the bottom of Mount Terry Fox. He ran up to the top looking for Rocky Mountain Sheep. At the end of a small meadow he saw three young rams. He walked over quietly so he would not scare them. He told them that he was looking for three Rocky Mountain sheep to come home with him to Lebanon to be husbands for the Embraceable Ewes. The rams said,”You are crazy!”

Jimmy Sheep said, “I am not crazy, I am Greek! I am only a little bit crazy and a whole lot stubborn!”

The rams walked away shaking their heads thinking they were done with the Suburban Shepherd from Lebanon. They had forgotten about the stubborn part.

Jimmy Sheep would not give up. He followed them all over the mountain. When they ran up the cliffs, he ran up the cliffs. When they ran down the valleys he ran down the valleys. Just like his mother and father he wore them down. FInally, the rams gave up and said they would come to Lebanon and become husbands for the Embraceable Ewes.

Jimmy led them down Mount Terry Fox. He did not make them run back to Lebanon. He put them on a train and rode all the way home. When they got to Lebanon the rams and the ewes hit it off. Next spring Jimmy Sheep, the rams, and the Embraceable Ewes are hoping for a lot of little laaaaaaaambs running around the Lebanon pasture. And a lot of people who heard about the adventure donated money for research to cure cancer.  All because Jimmy Sheep was Greek. You know, only a little bit crazy and a whole lot of stubborn.