One of my unfilled goals is to have a donkey as a pet. I don't know why, but I've always been intrigued by donkeys.
Maybe I was a donkey in one of my previous lives. Whenever I see a donkey either in person or on video or film, I feel an affinity with these beasts of burden.
One of the truly awful things that have been done to donkeys is a "custom" in one of those cruel European countries (probably Spain) that see how many people can sit on an old donkey's back before the poor creature collapses beneath their weight. I hope that "custom" is no longer practiced in these days of enlightenment of humans past cruel to animals.
Last week I made a visit to Sandy Hill Greenhouse, one of my go to garden nurseries for spring plantings. Near the nursery is a fenced off field with a miniature pony and a donkey. Miniature ponies are nice but I've never felt the affinity for them that I do donkeys.
After I parked my car I went to the fence to take a picture of said donkey. As soon as she saw me she stopped grazing and came over to me.
That surprised me but hey, I liked it. I reached out to her but she stayed just out of my reach. I was able to pat her a few times on her rump. Not soft fur, sort of rough. She stood there for a few minutes. Perhaps eating for something from me like an apple? I think the next time I visit Sandy Hill I will take an apple with me.
I think we know each other.
11 comments:
I had a donkey as a pet. It was a good experience. She was a good natured affectionate animal. I called her Shalee, short for Isabel. The dream was,she could carry my bedroll and we would explore the backcountry. We actually went on 2 or three practice trips.
Believe it or not, there are people who don't like donkeys.
So after a couple years, the town council said either find a home for that donkey or it is going to the livestock auction.
I found a home for her. I love donkeys.
I always suspected you were an Ass man :-)
they look such gentle creatures
Richard,
A nice story! I too love donkeys. Always wanted one. Maybe if I had a small farm, I would have realized my dream to have a donkey. I've always felt bad for them being beasts of burden. If I could just rescue one. Maybe in another life.
Ron
sassy bear,
Oh yes!
Ron
Ur-spo,
They are gentle, like my men
Ron
Respectfully, I guess you have to get documented and revise your ideas about life in European countries and Spain in particular in present days. We live in the XXI century now, maybe things are different from the time of Carmen opera first performance. Take care.
Anonymous- Shalee was a donkey. She was not concerned about European countries or Spain in particular. She was a burro, a donqui. I would talk to her in Spanish sometimes. While she was in my care, she met a jackass and got knocked up.
That process took a whole year. I named him Ocho because he finally was born on 8-8-1988. Baby donkeys are cute.
What were you doing on that day, anonymous?
Spare me the snarky attitudes, you can keep your XXI century and do not presume to tell me about Carmen, or donkeys,or Mexico, or Spain, or Europe, or Utah, or anything at all.
Respectfully, you are sounding like a person who can't be trusted with a donkey.
And yes, Isabel was documented. In those days, we had a "brand inspector" for horses, mules, and donkeys. Also for cows. I do not know about the rules for sheep and goats.
Anonymous has managed to push all the buttons. Probably i should thank him.
Ooh, i am not done with anonymous. Before we give him away, i wanted to explain about brand inspectors. In our case, it was Merlin "Jake" Gibson. He was an exceptionaly handsome young man, also he had nice manners and he spoke the local dialect.
All the girls loved him, and i loved him too.
He had to use canes, because he broke his back in an accident.
I think he might still be alive, he would be in his late 60s.
Anyway, that was our brand inspector. He had a way with animals.
So when anonymous tells me that we live in XXI century and tells us about opera, i think they are way out out of their depth. I disagree with anonymous. We have stories better than Opera.
Richard,
Sorry, I was not answering about your donkey story, nice story. I was making a comment about stereotypes and what it is said about some countries in the blog entry. Ron, it was just a comment, I like your blog and will keep following it anyway.
August 8, 1988? Funny question, I tried to remember. I think I was attending a congress in Kyoto. I though I had enough of local food and was happy to find a McDonald's. Can you believe it? My own stereotype, I love Japanese food now.
Not very fan of XXI century, either. I specially hate music and most films.
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