FACES

Has anybody seen my
minerals? Do you think
this is really a
"lifetime" gate? I've
been gnawing for
hours. Those girls over
there have been calling
me. Mom said I could
start dating this spring.
I'm sure she forgot.
Spring is here! As soon
as I chew through this
pipe, I can hop over to
the girls pasture.

My real name is Aficionado. Do you think that's a little
pretentious? It means, "lover of fine things." I think that fits
me to a "T." That's my dad in the picture using his gate as a
teething ring. They say I'm a lot like him, but I think I have
sense enough to know the difference between food and
swinging doors. What's the big deal about visiting the girls
anyway? I'm in the pasture with lots of girls and they're
about the silliest things alive!

This is my cousin, Chloe the
day she was borned. She kinda
looks like me but has a long
ways to go before she learns
how to behave with a little
dignity.

For example, have you ever
seen such attrocious table
manners in your life? She
lets food hang out of her
mouth all the time.
Anybody could come along
and steal it.

I like Chloe OK. At least she seems willing to learn from me.
It's not her fault she hasn't been taught good manners and
she's willing to let me teach her a few things. Her mom is
my Aunt Tabitha. My mom says she is a herd queen in
training. I don't think my mom and her sisters gets along
very well. As a matter of fact, Aunth Tabitha is always
trying to show everybody she's the boss.

I hear people ask my human mom all the time whether us
llamas spit. If you hang around here long enough, yeah,
you'll see somebody spitting. Aunt Tabitha (That's her on
the left) is usually involved. If my mom or any of my other
aunts or cousins don't treat her with the respect she
"thinks" she deserves, she lets them know it right away. It
usually starts with a little posturing like in the picture
above. If the victim of her wrath doesn't back down, she'll
let the spit fly. On this particular occasion, Aunt Tabitha is
the one who backed down. Us kids all laughed ourselves
silly!

Oh, as far as we know, Aunt Tabitha usually confines her
bad social skills to other llamas rather than humans.

Did I tell you about Krista?
Krista is Tabby's other
daughter and Chloe's older
sister. She is vain vain vain!
My human mom brought a
mirror out to the pasture
one day and Krista spent
HOURS gazing at herself
and making faces.

And you should have heard her! "Oh look at me. I'm so scary
looking. Wait, here's my *cute* look."

Good grief! It's enough to make a guy hurl his carrots!

Even Grandma Luisa was shocked at Krista's lack of dignity.

So . . did I tell you about *MY* sister, Lilly? She dotes
on me, by the way. But do you blame her? I'm
everything a sister could want. I'm suave, debonaire
and a whole bunch of other good things. Yep Lilly
loves me, alright.

OK, so we have a few minor sibling tiffs. She's a girl after
all and prone to weird girly moods. Well, I've rambled on
quite a bit here. I'm glad you got to meet me. If you're
ever in the neighborhood, drop in and visit. In the
meantime . . . .

WAIT! WAIT! I HAVE AN UPDATE! YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE
THIS, I CAN HARDLY BELIEVE IT MYSELF. A YOUNG HUMAN
NAMED SUMMER HAS TAKEN PITY ON ME AND GUESS WHAT?? I'M
GOING TO SCHOOL! I DON'T HAVE ALL THE DETAILS YET, BUT IT
HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH 4-H. AND THAT'S NOT ALL! I'M
GOING TO HAVE A BUDDY! ANOTHER GUY TO PLAY WITH. HIS
NAME IS BUCKWHEAT.

I'M EXPLAINING THINGS TO SUMMER. SHE AND I ARE GOING
TO BE GREAT BUDDIES. AND JUST IN THE NICK OF TIME,
TOO. WE HAD A CRIA BORN HERE THE DAY BEFORE EASTER.
YUP. ANOTHER GIRL! YOU SHOULD HEAR ALL THE OOHING
AND AHING AND GOOTCHIE GOOING GOING ON AROUND
HERE. I'M OUTA HERE, MAN! SUMMER YOU'VE SAVED MY
SANITY.

Here's another picture of
Chloe without the food
hanging from her mouth.
however, if you look
closely, you'll see she
managed to trail it over her
back. Girls!