Donkeys Are Extra-Ordinarily Special, Even If The Horses Don't Think So

We have had a lot, and I mean a lot, of mud out here lately, which means that Dudley and I have been hanging out with the horses quite a bit because we are running low on non-flooded pasture. The horses are bothered by the mud and have been grouchy and out-of-sorts.  This means they have been pretty bossy and have spent considerable time trying to hog the big round bale of hay. They act like they own the place.  They have had little patience with us and have taken great pleasure in making fun of Dudley and me because we are short.  That really bugs us, but there's not much we can do other than go off and have fun playing by ourselves. They are really annoying us, but considering that Christmas is right around the corner, Dudley and I are trying to take the high road in hopes that Santa is watching. 

Anyway, I told you last time that I have been thinking about Christmas.  This certainly means Santa, but it also means I have been thinking about the Christmas story. You know, when Mary and Joseph had to go from Nazareth to Bethlehem because the ruler of the land proclaimed that everyone had to be registered?  And it was when they were on their way that Baby Jesus was born?  And that he was born in a stable because there was no room in any of the inns? 

Well, I want to reiterate a very important fact about the Christmas story (and I hope the horses read this), which is that Mary rode on a donkey.  Not a camel.  Not a horse.  I repeat...  Not a horse, but a donkey.  A short, sturdy, protective donkey.  And that the distance of their journey was so great they travelled for four to six days.  Let me tell you,  that is a long, long way, but I can assure you that their little donkey took very great care to carry Mary as comfortably as possible and to step quite carefully over rocks and ruts so she would not be jostled and lose her balance. If you have been reading my letters you know how much we love our people, and I just know that Mary and Joseph's donkey loved them and worked very hard to make the journey safe and comfortable, which is saying an awful lot. 

I just had to talk about that because the horses have been so full of themselves lately.  They don't always understand how important we are, and they are certainly not remembering the critically acclaimed role we played in the arrival of Baby Jesus.   Gosh, if it hadn't been for donkeys, we might not even have Christmas!  

So I really hope the horses lighten up and stop and think about the fact that donkeys, though not always respected, surely should be.  

Have a Merry Christmas everyone!  And may you all be lucky enough to find a donkey beneath your tree on Christmas morning...

Love, 

Donkey   

Missing My Barn Manager

So I have been thinking about Christmas coming up and that this is the time of year when most animals think about and want to be with those who mean the most to them.  There is someone I have been thinking about lately who is very important and who loves me.  I haven't seen him in awhile though.  It's been a long while, actually.  I miss him a lot and wish he was here.  I dreamed about him last night.  I dream about him a lot.

I'm talking about our barn manager.  He has been gone for a long time.  He is in a far away land that has a very funny name.  He is helping protect our country.   I think he is very brave to do this.  I pray every night that he is safe and warm and knows that we all are thinking of him. I miss him feeding me and taking care of me and talking to me and giving me treats, but I know that he has an important job to do and that he will be home as soon as he can get here.  I'm pretty sure he misses taking care of me too... well, all of us, really.

I hope he knows that we can't wait for him to come home...  even though waiting is hard. Sometimes it seems like forever.

So please hurry home as fast as you can.  We will all be here, waiting for you to talk to us and scratch our necks and tuck us in...  We miss you...

Love,

Donkey

Farm Emergency 911

So one of our favorite farm people was in our stall the other day and something quite unexpected happened. We were very surprised and could not believe our eyes. 

Our farm person knocked himself out.  Yep, one minute he was standing upright, looking quite normal as he took care of us, and the next moment he was laying on the stall floor, out cold.  Trust me, that has never happened before.  Dudley and I didn’t quite know what to make of it.  Now I know that some of you will think this is silly and that because I am a donkey I am not a reliable reporter, but I am not exaggerating one bit.  This is exactly what happened.  You can even ask Dudley if you don’t believe me.   He was right there and saw it all. 

It was a normal day.  Our farm person was feeding us dinner and changing our water.  I’m not sure he was paying attention because he does this all of the time and probably doesn’t need to think about it much.  Or perhaps he had a lot on his mind.  I’m not quite sure.  Well, while he was emptying the bucket of old water and throwing it from the barn into the pasture he took a big, giant step forward and konked his head on the low overhang.  Down he went.  

You see, Dudley and I – and the goats – (yes, I said the goats.  I have no comment on that one.  Well, actually, I do.  Sometimes when the goats escape from their pasture the farm people get annoyed and put them in with us because they cannot get out, which then annoys me.  But apparently my vote carries less weight than the humans, which I think is quite unfair, but I am stuck.  If anyone has any ideas, please let me know).  Anyway, as I was saying, we are in the stall for short animals. The horses could never comfortably fit in here so we stay in a part of the barn where the ceiling and overhang are low.  Our farm person is pretty tall, plus he was wearing a baseball hat and probably couldn’t see where he was going, though I still don’t quite understand.  He has been in our stall a thousand times and he knows the overhang is low.   Why didn’t he duck?  Ducking would have solved everything.  All we know is he was tossing water, hit his head, and down he went.   

Well, we didn't quite know what to do.  We have never before had one of our farm people all of a sudden fall down in our stall. He took up a fair amount of room, actually.  We took great care not to step on him.   

We were a little shocked so we waited... and watched... and waited some more.  It appeared he was breathing, which made us quite hopeful that he was not dead.  I'm not sure what we would have done if he was dead.  I’m pretty good under pressure.  Actually, I’m very good under pressure, but if someone were dead in my stall I would probably lose my composure.  So we continued to carefully watch him breathe. He didn't move. After a little while we thought we should try to wake him up and I did what any good, responsible donkey would do…

I licked his face.  Dudley stood and intently watched for life signs and I licked away. We worked on him for a number of minutes. 

Well, I am very, very happy to report that our farm person was not dead and that we woke him up and made sure he was ok.  We were enormously relieved.  He was sore and felt a little silly, I think.  He got up pretty slowly and we watched while he checked out whether he could walk.  He could.  He picked up his hat and rubbed his head a lot.  He was probably pretty sore. We told him he didn’t need to worry about our water bucket, but he filled it anyway and made sure we were ok for the night.  Despite his accidental loss of consciousness he had to make sure we were all tucked in.  As he left, we noticed that he was walking a little slow, but we were fairly certain he was going to be ok and would not die any time soon. We were awfully glad for that. 

I think under the circumstances the Dud and I did pretty well, considering we didn't have a first aid book on hand.  And may I point out that during all of this the goats did not contribute in any meaningful way... whatsoever... at all...  which is yet another commentary on the great value and protective nature of donkeys and why we out-rank the goats.  Yep, we sure carry our weight around here, that's for sure, and we were more than happy to assist.  Everyone does so much for us, it's the least we could do... 

Love,

Donkey