Roller's Philosophical Friday: Simplicity

Dearest Muleteers, as you are all aware I am a lover of the simple things in life.  This morning the simplest things made me contented.  I had fresh clean water in my bucket, I had a nice clean bed, I had some clean straw and haylage to eat, I could watch the rain from inside my stable and I had my best pals to keep me company.  I do not want for much and believe that by appreciating the simple things in life we can slow down and remember that such simple things are actually a blessing.


© The Donkey Sanctuary, used under CCL

For what is simple for me is luxury for many of my friends (both human and animals) around the world.  Spare a thought for those who can only dream of what we have and to whom such simple things are luxuries.  By enjoying simple things and being clear in who we are we may remind ourselves now and again of how lucky we are.

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

Leonardo da Vinci

 



Calamity Jane!

Yeeha Muleteers! That's all us mules have heard for a while..... Oh the Deadwood stage is rolling on over the hill..... Just blew in from the windy city...... Take me back to the black hills...... And on and on she goes!  Yes muleteers Female Human (FH) has been driving us potty!  She has been watching THAT film again and boy do we know it!  

Now muleteers us mules have mulificent ears for a reason, we have exceptional hearing but that does not mean it should be abused.  Since FH watched this film at the weekend she has been humming and singing away.  It transpires that this film has A LOT to answer for.  From the age of 3 (much younger than us mature mules) FH has been obsessed by her cowgirl hero.  We think she may have taken some of the parts of the film a little too seriously.  When Granny Human (GH) needed a little time out from FH (we understand GH she can go on a bit and the question why? does get a little tiring...) she used to put this film on.  Well FH took to it so much that she soon started dressing up as her favourite character!  She still has that stupid hat we can assure you!

Now who was this Calamity Jane I asked FH?  BIG mistake!  I got a very long winded version of her being a female gunslinger who was an amazing heroine, could shoot a target at 20 paces and was the best rider in town.  Well that's what the film said.... the real Calamity Jane was a much sadder lady and was not always the most stable character.... however one thing that she sure was is a muleskinner - that is a driver of mules.  CJ was a skilled outrider and mule woman and helped to deliver many important loads to the prospectors in the wild west, particularly in a town called Deadwood.  She was not always kind to the rightful population of the land but we hope with time and enlightenment she would now see the error of her ways....

Deadwood Mule Coach

So FH has grown up with her role model looking good in leather chaps, onboard a horse, with less that ladylike language and thinks she can yeehaa her way through life.  Firstly no one told FH that this is Devon, UK not Deadwood, USA and secondly there are no stagecoaches anymore.  FH doesn't mind though, there is still the Wild West (Country) to explore, she has her very own cow mule who seems to be called Callie..... I can't imagine what that's short for? Any guesses?

Muleteers I guess if this noisy film convinced FH to take the less than ordinary route and led her in to the temptation of mules then we'll forgive it, even if my ears are ringing a little, FH sounds a bit like Catanian when she sings!

Where mules are king but all work hard.

Greetings muleteers!  We have all been sheltering indoors keeping our ears dry.  While we were all inside our human was telling us about her trip to a far away place called Ethiopia.  In Ethiopia our human told us that mules are kings!  Well nearly!  Our cousins in far away lands are the most sought after of the equine race, they are valued over our short eared cousins and even our donkey pals.  In Ethiopia mules are a sign of wealth and success and are highly prized!  That made our ears prick up!  We are very aware that in this wet windy country called the UK mules are a looked at with disdain by many 'horsey folk', we are always annoyed when people mention the stubborn word or when they ask if we're an ugly horse, well really....

Where mules are king and everyone wants to be one!

So we listened carefully to what our human was telling us. Our donkey, horse and mule cousins are used as taxis, water carriers, riding animals and all round four wheel drive vehicles.  Our cousins live close to their humans and are a very important part of everyday life, they are allowed on the main highways, they stand outside the shops, they go to the well to fetch water for their humans and sometimes they even get to sleep inside with the family (The Mini thinks this is a great idea!).  We eagerly told our human this sounded brilliant, when could we start to offer a taxi service, Callie is very keen to start a school bus service as she likes small people :-)

A short eared taxi service taking owners to church on a Sunday

Hmmm apparently life is not quite so simple for our cousins in far away places.  Our human carried on telling us about what being a real working mule involves.  You see mules, donkeys and horses work for many hours a day on crowded roads, they are fed what their owners can afford and often have saddles and bridles that don't fit, Callie's ears drooped when she heard this.  No fine cow mule gear for our cousins,  just harness made from what is cheap and locally available, very often tyre rubber or seat belt material is used as this is all our cousin's humans can afford.  The human we own said not to judge these humans too badly, they try very hard to give our cousins the best that they can but they often don't have much money and they themselves wear tyre sandals on their feet and don't have enough food so everyone works hard and has to suffer whether they have long, short or human ears.

Ro-Land was especially upset after listening to what human had to say, she said with a sad look that the short ears are the ones that really struggle with the work they have to do.  Horses are prized and are big enough to be used as taxi pullers, unfortunately they don't cope well with the work and the weather, they are often painfully thin and have badly fitting harnesses which rub them and cause sores.   She even said that horses often get very sick and are abandoned by their humans who can't treat them and don't know what to do with them, apparently some nice people will collect them and take them to the Rainbow Bridge, this sounds nice, we hope they like it?

Our poorly cousin waiting for someone to help.

Us long eared mules and our donkey pals cope much better, human said that most of our cousins that she saw were in really good condition despite having only meagre rations and working hard.  We all conferred and thought this was obvious - WE ARE MULES! We are the original all terrain vehicle that lives on nothing and likes to work, of course we're fine, no wonder we are the most prized animals in all of the world (well Ethiopia at least!).

Our donkey cousins snack at the side of the road, why doesn't human let us do this?

Just as we were feeling really sad human stroked all of our ears and told us not to worry.  There are some people working really hard in Ethiopia to help long and short ears and the humans that they own.  These lovely people are called The Donkey Sanctuary and SPANA, they work to help adjust harnesses, treat wounds and offer advice to owners and children who will one day come to be owned by us long and short ears.  Human said that the vets and helpers are real long and short eared fans and they know the secret - the mule is king (or queen!).

www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk
www.spana.org