All-seasons acreage

Convinced, the Soldens made an offer that was accepted, and they moved out to the country by end of the summer. City friends bet them they would only last a month. After four years, the Soldens are sure they made the right decision, even though the transition has been quite challenging at times.

Sari and Dean decided to keep seven of the 20 sheep they saw grazing in the pasture on their first visit, not anticipating that a few were pregnant. Dean and the couple's teenage daughter, Dasha, soon got into the rhythm of chores and the care of the animals. In their first spring on the farm, the Soldens lost one ewe and two lambs, a hard lesson for former city folks who had been insulated from some of nature's harsher ways.

Since then, every morning Sari counts her sheep as the animals walk out of the barn into the pasture. Laughing, she says, "I understand now about counting sheep. Every night I see my own in my head!" Even with the maintenance and responsibility, Sari has found much pleasure and contentment from these basic farm routines.

Sari has spent a lot of time observing the habits of the sheep. Gradually, she began thinking about them and their behavior in terms of metaphors in her work with women with attention deficit disorder (ADD). Sari noticed that sheep often hide what is wrong with them until it is too late to do anything to help them. She said many of her clients hide their feelings or illnesses, so she has used stories about her sheep to illustrate conditions and to help modify behavior and improve the lives of people affected with ADD.