Why counting sheep stayed with us

Counting sheep is less a single ancient technique than a durable image: a repetitive task, a quiet landscape, and nothing important at stake.

The appeal is easy to understand without making a medical claim for it. Each imagined sheep gives the mind a small job. The job repeats. If the count is lost, nothing has been lost with it.

Endless Wandering brings that image back as a restrained reader board. Small illustrated sheep pass slowly; fences follow the prime numbers through eleven; then two fences close the field and the count begins again. You can watch or stop whenever the screen becomes unnecessary.