I met the donkeys and they are adorable

I'm going to regale you with my day of donkeyness. The truth, pictures and all.

We dropped off the kids at school (both of whom wanted to play hookey and go with us but I was a selfish shellfish and said no). And then headed out to the east mountains via old Route 66. A slower way to our destination but much more colorful and interesting than the interstate. Prior to our trip, we received directions on how to get to Edgewood Longears Shelter. Very good and concise directions (don't ya love those versus the wishy washy ones we sometimes give and get) and our journey only took us about 40 minutes. It would have been about 15 minutes faster on the highway.

Pressing the flesh with the donkeys

The directions said, "when you end the S curve, look for the donkeys on your left and you are here." And we were. There were all (15 that we saw) of these adorable donkeys staring at us as we pulled up. Before I go any further, yes, I will be going back weekly to ELS and what I am about to tell you, in my sarcastic, Oma way is for storytelling purposes and in no way is a put down of mother nature and all her jokester ways.

The snow has melted, refrozen, melted for over a week now at the 7000 foot altitude donkey rescue. So, the ground is frozen hard in early morning and grabs your boots off your feet by noon. Guess when I'll be going to visit the longears, yep early morning.

so peaceful.......so long as there is distance between us and them

Now you all know, or if you don't you will now, that I have Fibromyalgia and have a knee replacement, the other knee is iffy and I am a full ton of fun. Other than that I have had offers to stay out of the way by many Olympic committees at length and often. The ground kicked my ass. Heck people, I fight to keep my balance when I walk down my hallway, let alone on rutted frozen tundra. And it really wasn't a surprise that this was going to be physically challenging to me. But as Sweet Man kept reminding me, it was good for me to stretch myself. Whereby, he and I, arm in arm, trying to keep each other stable, hit a patch of solid ice and did the olde people splits......laughing our butts off. "help, no help yourself", teeeeeee heeeee. It was hilarious.

Of course the funny wore off this morning when we tried to get out of bed and every muscle that we forgot we had in our butts and thighs, calves, feet and brain yelled simultaneously...........REALLY?????????? ARE YOU KIDDING ME??????????????????

you can see how uneven and rutted the ground is on the donkey highway

The visit was fun, interesting, educational and humbling. I took apple slices with me to tempt the sweeties to come close. Some did, most did not. Many looked away and I could almost hear them wishing me to go away. I had no idea just how afraid of humans so many of them are. I also did not know the extent of abuse some of these beautiful critters have withstood. I am so ashamed of how humans have treated these precious animals.

The educational part came from not only Dorothea and Andrew who were so welcoming and told us all about where all the donks came from but also from just observing. 4 boys were bought off Craigslist as "roping donkeys". 2 found wandering up near Las Vegas with no owner. 21 were rescued from a slaughter yard, 9 of whom were pregnant Jenny's. One who is gonna have that baby donkey any day now.

pretty girls

So many donkeys with stories and yet so much unknown about others as to why they fear so deeply. There also was a farrier doing his job with 2 penned jennys. In the 2 hours we were there, he had only gotten as far as touch training with the one he was working on.....so patient, such a nice man, so gentle. I was mesmerized by his soft approach. The donkey on the other hand had a much more direct approach.....and kicked at him many times in the beginning and became more gentled with every passing moment. Wow, what an experience.

The best part of the visit was when Stella the white donkey in most of my pictures became curious and followed me around. She, Ghandi, Rose and Sheila made the bologna sandwich out of me, started chewing my hair, sweatshirt and tried to take the apple bag from me. I've never been that "surrounded" in my life by donkeys, kids yes, donkeys no. It was awesome looking into their eyes, breathing their breath and feeling their closeness. I am so addicted now.

I love how fluffy Stella's ears are and how they say so much

So the sore muscles are a great reminder of how I will need to pace myself to get the best out of my visits, but they also are a physical reminder that I can. Who knows three months from now, I may not be limpy the next day, but today I say it was worth it because Stella the belladonkey let me touch her and demanded I do it again and again........even without the apples........just because she figured out it felt good.