The Attorney Cheesemaker

“If I ever get depressed,” says Cindy Callahan, “I go sit on a stump and watch my lambs.”

Cindy, a former attorney, sits in the dining room of her ranch house in Valley Ford, Sonoma County. Her son Brett pops into the open kitchen, retrieves something from the fridge, says, “Hi,” and departs. Mainstream middle-class living, it would seem, except for the fact that Cindy is cradling a lamb, feeding it milk out of a large beer bottle. It’s lambing season and winter rains have been pounding the entire coast of California. Some lambs are too weak to nurse outdoors, so Cindy has brought them inside till the weather improves and the babies are stronger.