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Counting Sheep

Audio: Barrett Golding / Art: © Jerry Iverson

Shearing Sheep at the Hutterites (1989 27x36 oil on linen) painting by Jerry Iverson

Shearing Sheep at the Hutterites (1989 27×36 oil on linen) © Jerry Iverson

Part One: Lambs

“Counting Sheep” follows a year in the lives of sheep ranchers, herders, and shearers. The radio show starts, ends and spends much of the middle with Roxanne Linderman. She and her husband, Don, run a small sheep ranch near the Bridger Mountains of Southcentral Montana.

  1. “Intro- Early, Cold, and Outside” (0:40 mp3):
    Audio Player
  2. “What You’re Limits Are” (1:52 mp3):
    Audio Player
  3. “Hard Pushin'” (2:36 mp3):
    Audio Player
Sheep herder (1990 38x36 oil on canvas) painting by Jerry Iverson

Sheep herder (1990 38×36 oil on canvas) © Jerry Iverson

Part Two: Herd

Sheep-herders Chris Spogis and Patty Robinson talk about bugs, bears and being by oneself — all in a sheep’s work day.

  1. “Great Deal of Patience” (1:59 mp3):
    Audio Player
  2. “Honeymoon in a Sheep Wagon” (1:53 mp3):
    Audio Player
Sheep: sheared unsheared (1994 14x17 oil on paper on board) painting by Jerry Iverson

Sheep: sheared unsheared (1994 14×17 oil on paper on board) © Jerry Iverson

Part Three: Wool

Roxanne awaits the shearers. Jim Moore, Jerry Iverson, and Jim Carr use their electric shears and strong backs to shave the sheep. They go in full-wooled; they come out bald.

  1. “Sheep Up the Chute” (0:49 mp3):
    Audio Player
  2. “Rough Week” (3:08 mp3):
    Audio Player
Feeding Sheep (1993 15x18 oil on linen on board) painting by Jerry Iverson

Feeding Sheep (1993 15×18 oil on linen on board) © Jerry Iverson

Part Four: Canine

Roxanne voice-commands her border collies, Price and Keeper, as they herd the sheep across a bridge. Then we walk to the Bone Hill (“every farm has one”), with an eye out for coyote.

  1. “Panic Zone” (3:04 mp3):
    Audio Player
  2. “Coyotes Are Not Stupid” (3:16 mp3):
    Audio Player
Self Portrait Shearing Sheep (1992 26x32 oil on canvas on board) painting by Jerry Iverson

Self Portrait Shearing Sheep (1992 26×32 oil on canvas on board) © Jerry Iverson

Part Five: Meat

Ranchers bring their sheep to the weekly auction at the Bozeman Stockyards. Roxanne culls her herd.

  1. “More Money in Sheep” (2:49 mp3):
    Audio Player
  2. “Direct Relationship” (2:36 mp3):
    Audio Player
Last Sheep: Jerry Iverson retired as a sheep shearer in 2001 to paint; this is the last sheep he sheared.

Last Sheep: Jerry Iverson retired as a sheep shearer in 2001 to paint; this is the last sheep he sheared.

Part Six: Death

For Roxanne and Don, this is the hard part. An animal gets old, an animal gets sold, and the result is the same.

  1. “The Level of Your Gun” (2:22 mp3):
    Audio Player
  2. “Outro- Thanks” (1:24 mp3):
    Audio Player

    Jerry Iverson, Painter

    See Jerry Iverson’s site for more paintings and exhibitions.

Causation #22, painting by Jerry Iverson

Causation #22, painting by Jerry Iverson