Conversations: Speaking of Alpacas by Julia Michel Have you noticed that when people are doing what they love and loving what they do, they smile a lot? Linda Bat and Rus Hinman smile a lot. They also have a passion for what they do and a small herd of happy animals to show for it. Linda has been raising Alpacas for the past 16 years with Rus joining her in 2006 to form today's Delphi Alpacas. Along with the Alpacas, they have two guardian Great Pyrenees, Spark and Bela, who help care for and protect the herd as well as four felines to add to their menagerie of furry friends. The Alpacas are indeed interesting animals, looking like they walked out of a book by Doctor Seuss. Each one has a unique personality, piercing eyes, and a body covered with a lot of very soft, fine fleece. Besides being extremely interesting creatures, the quality of their fleece is the main reason to raise Alpacas. Rus and Linda are constantly striving to breed their Alpacas for the best quality, softest, crimpiest, finest fleece available today. And they are succeeding, with numerous awards and ribbons from national shows. In the long run, the better the quality of fleece the Alpacas have, the more they are valued and the better life they have. The Alpacas at Delphi Alpaca have a very nice life. The natural colors of the Alpacas’ fleece range from black to silver gray, to rose gray (which looks like a deep mahogany color). Some of the members of the Alpaca family at Delphi include Receta, (meaning “recipe” in Spanish); Gilda, her daughter; and Karmady, her granddaughter. Receta is 16 and one of their oldest Alpacas; she is now retired from breeding but still maintains her status as a queen of the herd. She is a beautiful old silver gray female with intense eyes who still dominates the herd with her strong presence. One of her daughters, Gilda (named after Gilda Radner), is 7 years old, also a beautiful silver gray queen who loves to play and has a great sense of humor. Gilda’s baby daughter, Karmady is only 3 weeks old and is very sweet and fun-loving since her name means “finding humor and enlightenment in what the universe brings back to you.” Linda and Rus consider themselves to be the luckiest people in the world and it appears that the Alpacas agree. For more information, visit their website at: http://delphialpacas.blogspot.com/