Late Summertime

Monday, August 16, 2021 —(In 6 days, August’s full “Sturgeon” moon will rise nearest to earth.)

Today’s rising sun is as as red as any suns that recently have set. The intense red is caused by air-heavy smoke from wildfires. Today’s temperatures will hover around one-hundred degrees, by noon they’ll be stultifying. In contrast, tomorrow’s temps will be in the seventies, a welcome drop that starts a brief cooling trend.

These days I drive the horses early as possible, to exercise them prior to the worst heat. This morning, too, I’m eager to go outside, feed them, and accomplish their driving. After those workouts, the equines will travel across the road to John’s for an hour or so on his green pasture.

John’s pasture only is several hundred feet away, but it’s been hard for me to get at once all three equines over there. The horses are no problem and walk nicely with me. The donkey’s a problem. She balks, needs lots of pulling, wears me out.

Recently, I came up with a solution.

Pimmy has learned that her weight and planted feet can pause the un-powerful Gater. She’s unhappily situated between the big horses and often balks. It took a while for me to learn to keep a heavy foot on the gas to prevent any pauses. Otherwise, the donkey plants feet to stop action, over and again.

It’s understandable, not wanting to walk between big horses. We have the same problem in winters, when I walk the three together down the street to a more distant neighbor’s pasture, and later home again. Pimmy resists being in the middle and balks frequently.

I get worn out, leading and pulling that donkey along.

Actually, Pimmy is a great pet, sweet and accommodating, loves her horses and wants to go anywhere they go. Just doesn’t want to be moving between them. Well, when I lead the three, that’s the best position for her. But she makes leading hard on my arms, spine, and psyche.

Right now, it’s time to go and feed before driving the horses. Later, I will be sure to slam a heavy foot on the Gater’s gas pedal.

I’ll mention that to keep things safe, I move the Gater very slowly. The animals on short leads just walk to keep pace. Traveling goes well except for “Pimmy’s moments”. Thankfully, my mature and easy horses tolerate that too-smart donkey.

Dear Friends: Animals help to remove one’s mind from an afternoon’s sweltering hours. Diana