I just finished reading HCN’s Dec. 12th issue, and discovered, on the back page, within Betsy Marston’s letter-perfect column no less, the unexpected: an aggregation of sheep referred to as a “herd.”
“Holy sufferin’ sheep dip,” I blurted. “How can it be?” But then as I backtracked through the same report, I discovered that I’d read right through text that described Peruvian “sheepherders” and hadn’t batted an eye, which I would have done had they been referred to as “flockers.”
And so, after calming down a bit, I’ll let herding sheep lie, which doesn’t begin to address lying sheep, a much more serious matter.
David McIntyre
Crowsnest Pass, Alberta, Canada
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline What the flock?.
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