Objects: Flock of Sheep

These are a few of my wife's collection of sheep.

"Sheep?!" you may ask. "Yes, sheep," I said.

Back in the 70s my wife, Phyllis -- who was a teacher then -- went on a summer tour in Italy with a group of like-minded education types. Many of them being teachers on their summer leave from school, there wasn't lots of extra cash flow circulating in the group, if you receive my meaning. The tour guide, it became apparent in time, was bound and determined to separate these 'rich' Yankees from as much of their 'massive' disposable income as she could manage. The tour group was frequently stopping where there were opportunities to spend extra greenbacks between scheduled visits to the cultural sites that made up the itinerary that they had all signed on for.

Well, one day after this had been going on for some time, Phyllis and her friend (who happened to be especially strapped for money) found themselves in a restaurant for lunch en route to Venice. It was in Venice that the lunch they had already paid for in the package rate was waiting for them. Phyllis had had enough at this point and stood up and said in a somewhat 'assertive' tone that, "We are all SHEEP!" -- referring, of course, to their compliance so far in all the shenanigans being pulled on them by their guide.

Good "SHEEP!" that they were, they began to follow Phyl's lead at about that point instead of the guide's. They were hustled out of the restaurant and on to Venice where they met up with their prepaid luncheon, etc.

It was also in Venice that the company replaced the tour guide with another that was more satisfactory.

Since then, Lisa (Phyl's especially impecunious friend on that tour) has given Phyl a little sheep each Christmas to remember their adventure with the tour guide in that restaurant somewhere on the road to Venice.