Clyde

Ah, yes, hello Santa Claus.

My name is Clyde. Well, I guess you can see that from my signature. I’m a shy guy, and that’s why I’m kind of looking away from the camera in this photo. But I’m also a bit vain, and that is why you’re getting a view of my best profile. We llamas have complex psyches.

I have not been at this farm very long, but I feel that for an introvert, I’ve done pretty well at making friends. My pet goat died last year and then my best friend Lucky the llama died in January. He was old, but then again, I’m old too. You know you’re getting long in the tooth when your friends start dropping like flies. Here’s the thing: I couldn’t go on living by myself on a big farm with only a few chickens to squawk at me. De-press-ing! But I didn’t want to go to a retirement home. Sure, I know, there are lots of “older” (we prefer the term “mature”) animals at my new farm here, but no one here has retired from ANYTHING!

A little while ago people were bringing us pumpkins to eat. The goats got first whack at them, but I will confess that I snuck in some bites here and there and they were SUPERB! If anyone has leftover pumpkins, I’m hoping you can pick them up on your rounds with the reindeer.

The word is that you are accepting gift requests!  My first one is pretty weird but I’ve always been the practical sort. You see, we camelids need to get a shot once a month to protect us against a very bad thing called a “meningeal” worm. It can go in our brains and make us paralyzed. But the other day, my official shot-giver said an expletive when she went to get the medicine. It was nearly empty! Please, can you send us more? https://tinyurl.com/dectomax-for-clyde

Well the next thing is maybe a bit pricey for you – or maybe your elves can sew this up for me! I’m almost 18 years old, and while I do have fairly thick fiber, if we get that terrible polar vortex again this year, I’m just not sure if I can keep warm enough. I am a tall guy, so I’ll need a full llama size – what shade do you think goes best with my coloring? I’m thinking perhaps Burgundy? Hmmm.  Well here is where you can have a look! https://tinyurl.com/coat-for-clyde

And while we’re working on my wardrobe, how about a fly mask for summer? (we do need to cover all eventualities!). As you can see, I have lovely large liquid brown eyes, but sometimes the flies can be very pesky and you can’t imagine how often I need to blink to keep them away. https://tinyurl.com/fly-mask-for-clyde  Sigh, I’m not sure they come in any interesting colors, but I’ll take pot luck 🙂

I just learned about “sponsoring.” I thought that’s what people do for famous athletes, but apparently there is a whole marvelous system to help animals.  https://shop.stargazingfarm.org/product/sponsor-clyde/ A person who has a few extra dollars to give can say, “say, I’d like to sponsor Clyde and maybe he can have some pocket money to get treats once in a while.” Actually, I wouldn’t know what to do with money so I hand it over to our human farmer and she buys me food with it …. but she MIGHT buy treats, too. AND here’s the kicker: if you sponsor me you can come and visit me. Don’t worry, I’ve given up the habit of spitting. It was hard and I went through an awful withdrawal period, but I’m done with it now and I feel so much better about life.

Well Santa Claus, I’m looking forward to seeing you here at the farm on December 20!  https://shop.stargazingfarm.org/product/santa-festival/

Your friend,

Clyde