Sagebrush Ranch at Montana Mule and Donkey Days

Team Donk at Montana Mule and Donkey Days

Daystar Farms at Montana Mule Days

Montana Mule Days, Drummond

Montana Mule and Donkey days were held in Drummond last weekend (June 8, 9, 10). We had a blast, and next year, hopefully, we'll take our two mammoth donkeys!

Here are photos:

Vera and the Famous Author

Vera thought that maybe she should think about the MacArthur Genius Grant. So she thought about it. And she thought that was about as close to a grant as she'd ever get, so she started thinking about Snoopy and the Red Baron.

Here goes the Famous Author, sitting in a Very Comfy leather arm chair, so big you can sit indian style in it without hurting your ankles. A cup of hot chocolate with a dash of coffee, a pencil in hand, a blank sheet of paper...

Aaaaaaaaaargh! Make the white space go away! The pressure! The tension!

Vera decided to close her eyes and think. She thought about what her exact location would be like in a thousand years. Would there even be people here? Would everyone be Chinese?

What about lovely gardens and tall rooms with immense libraries, and a boat. Yes, the story must have a boat. And a handsome young man. Who falls in love with a beautiful young lady, but she doesn't know she's beautiful. And there must be a bratty little brother, and a kind old uncle. And a father who has gone far away. No one knows when he may return. Mother is whistful. Full of whist (what's whist?).

His name was Mao Ling, and he was born in the year of the Monkey.

Before the Fall

Once upon a time, there was a 50 year old lady who wanted to ride a donkey bareback. So she tried it out on her very large mammoth donkey in the little dog yard. This worked out so well, she wanted to show off.

Later, a friend from church told her that Red Green said there were two words people our age should never say: "Watch this!"

However, the lady hadn't even thought about that. She just wanted Beloved Spouse to see how clever she was. So she got on the donkey (whose name is Abie) bareback in her socks. (The slip-on boots seemed a little heavy, so she took them off.)

Once aboard, her beloved snapped a photo, and here it is:


















After her beloved was done with the photo, the lady said: "Dear, why don't you help me on with my boots?" She was thinking it would be nice to have the boots on when she dismounted.

The boot on the left went on, no problem.

The boot on the right was more of a struggle. Abie noticed something was going on, and decided to take three big slow steps forward.

Now, if someone is pushing a boot on your foot and the donkey is moving, you have no way to not fall over, and there is absolutely nothing to catch your fall.

Ahem. Very undignified.

Beloved spouse later said: "Dear, I badly wanted to take a picture of you on the ground, kind of a before-and-after, but I thought you'd be mad. Would you pose for me?"

No!

So, dear reader, no picture of crumpled me on the ground. The proud do fall. But then, they who fall off their ass get up off their ass so they can get up on their ass again! (You will please note that "ass" is the actual proper name for a donkey. I can't help it if the term has been otherwise misused!)

My advice to you: Use a saddle, and keep your boots on!

-Auriel