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Haflinger and Fugue in D Minor
The skies have opened up and
dumped buckets of rain in the northwest today. It was dark and
black this morning with a cloud cover that allowed no sunrise,
and the southeast winds started picking up early, gusting up to
80 miles an hour in some places in our county. So when I went out
to the barn this morning, I informed my 11 resident Haflingers
that they were stuck indoors for the day, and none of them
objected as long as they had a pile of hay to munch, a comfy
clean bed of shavings and fresh water. Contentment reigneth as I
closed up the doors and headed to work.
By the time I made it home from work tonight, got dinner started
in the house and headed down to the barn through sheets of
blowing horizontal rain, I was assaulted by 11 excited voices
that greeted my opening the barn door. The deep bass from Amos,
the contralto from Noblesse, the alto of Nonchalance, Belinda,
Nuance, and three yearlings, and the high soprano nickers of the
three weanlings. But nothing compares with the shrill piccolo
squeal that comes from Marlee--heard above all and frankly, ear
piercing! I realized as I walked in the barn that their chorus
was only the melody line for the constant din of rain drumming on
the metal roof and the banging of the sliding doors as the wind
buffeted them. It was truly a concert out there, and I'm sure the
Haflingers had heard plenty of noise from the storm all day and
enough was enough. They wanted some relief, like, ah, food,
like-- you know--right now, to take their minds off of it.
I moved quickly to fetch grain and vitamins to them in record
time, throwing hay flakes in their stalls and freshening up their
water. They settled into the rhythmic chewing that I always find
as comforting as a lullaby as I cleaned and prepared their beds.
Five more days of rain and wind are predicted. This could be a
long confinement for the Haflingers if the weather stays this
soppy and nasty the whole time. They may even compose a complete
symphony before it is over. Rehearsals scheduled at 6:30 AM and
6:30 PM with performances daily at stall cleaning time, attended
by one grateful lady farmer. I'll be asking for an encore.
Emily from BriarCroft