Saturday, October 25, 2008

I. Eat. Little. Boys.

This is our miniature horse, Clover. She doesn't really eat little boys. My 11 year old daughter has always wanted a horse, has dreamed of having a horse, drawn pictures of horses, read every horse book she could find. Needlesstosay she is flying high in horsie heaven!

Making her happy was a huge factor in buying her this horse but there were so many other things. One of the biggest reasons is my dad. Ever since my earliest memory, I've known my dad loves horses. Everyone who knows my dad knows he loves horses. We grew up in a town which didn't allow farm animals so a horse was out of the question. My parents live there still. My dad is 82 years old and I don't foresee him moving to a farm anytime soon.

My parents come to our home and stay in a camper out in our yard every home football game (yeah Penn State!). The next home football game wasn't for two weeks after we brought Clover home. I couldn't wait for my dad to see her. Now I'm not known for being able to keep a secret - and it was agonizing for me NOT to tell my mom and dad about Clover. I fantasized about the surprise! I envisioned my dad getting out of the car and seeing Clover and falling in love. I also knew that my dad would be very stoic and I also knew in the morning when he got up would be when he went out and really appreciate Clover. He loves walking out and seeing the goats, Tommy and Bella, being stared down by Dolly Llama, and hearing the chickens make their early morning chicken-y noises. If ever a person should have been surrounded by animals, it should have been my dad. I remember a few Thanksgivings ago, I spent the weekend with my parents. My dad had found this skinny little abandoned kitten under the porch of his office. Now my mom, to whom most all of the animal care and chores fall, was not very thrilled to have another cat. But when she saw that skinny, emaciated little babe who clearly was in love with my dad, I knew that Boots had found a home.

I am old. I have just a little farm. And I love, love, love my animals - but I am so incredibly thankful that I'm able to provide my dad the chance to have a taste of the farm life too.

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