TheBanyanTree: Rainy morning

[NancyIee at aol.com]

Rain again today.  The tiny horses were more than ready to come into their 
stalls for oats and dry hay. Little Sabrina, the grey and white paint is 
starting to show her pregnancy.  Champagne, the pale golden colt, dances beside his 
mother and steals her oats from her. Talisman, tiny brown and white colt, lips 
my fingers as I feed him bits of apple and dry his fuzzy coat with an old 
towel.  And, Jazzy, the sassy one, whinnies impatiently and stamps for me to hurry 
along with her breakfast. It is Jazzy I hitched to a neighbor's custom and 
home-made cart, heavy and sturdy enough to carry her wheelchair-bound son last 
week. The entire must have weighed a few hundred pounds, yet Jazzy, with all 
her sturdy heart, tugged, grunted, and pulled the cart, giving the boy his first 
ride in a pony cart. I forgive Jazzy her stubbornness, for she did her job 
with astounding willingness and gentle going. I giver her roan coat an extra 
brushing as she eats.

Rain pelts the barn's tin roof, yet over the sound I can hear the pigs 
banging their dishes. The goat calls for me. He is standing on his hind legs in his 
pen, watching me come along the aisle.  I mix the mess for the pigs, and they 
greedily shlurp their meal. The goat, more dainty, takes the food from the 
palm of my hand with her feathery touch. Lick-lick-lick, his whiskers brushing my 
skin.

The cats come in. Lucy has caught something and brings me the scrap of fur as 
a present. I thank her and tell her she's wonderful. Her hunting instinct 
helps keep the critter population in the barn under control.  I give her food and 
milk, and she purrs her thanks, and swats Michael, the big tom cat away as he 
waits his turn.

I stand under the overhang and listen to the rain and the munching of my many 
charges. The air is moist with the scent of them and the aroma of warm rain.

Someone once told me there are no animals in heaven, for they have no souls. 
I believe that is not true. For heaven to me is a morning like this.

NancyLee