Rebecca and Cynthia live in Monkton, VT with their current flock of six sheep that came to them from various prior farms. During the day, Rebecca is Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at Middlebury College where she co-directs the Focus in Religion, Philosophy and the Environment. Cynthia works as a physician and has specialized in adult internal medicine for over twenty years. Most recently, she was the head of a small internal medicine practice in Barre, Vermont and currently works as a physician at the Student Health Service of the University of Vermont.
Rebecca and Cynthia joke that they accidentally ended up with sheep when looking for pets that could be left alone during the day and keep each other company. After bringing their first three sheep home in 2008, they quickly formed intimate relationships with these animals and were delighted to witness their varied personalities flourish as they settled into their new home. Every sheep that comes to them is written their own song, which Rebecca and Cynthia regularly sing to them. Caring for sheep has had a large impact on the way Rebecca and Cynthia see the natural world, inspiring a deep sense of greater kinship with other beings, from sheep, to birds, to pine trees. While they have always sensed this kinship, living with sheep has enabled them to foster this kinship through daily cycles of labor and love. They’ve witnessed how sheep can nourish the land on a small scale, yet worry about the effects of intensifying climate change and how this may challenge the health and well-being of their sheep, as well as the larger bio-region in which they dwell.