Donkey Zen

One of my favorite places to look for inexpensive books is Daedalus Books.  As you will recall I am contemplating adding chickens to the mix of backyard critters next year (see post of 3/9/14) and toward that end picked up the book,  the Way of the Hen, Zen and the Art of Raising Chickens by Clea Danaan from Daedalus.

In the first few pages I found this passage:  "In the midst of cell phones that connect to the Internet and cars that tell us where to go, fifty-hour work-weeks and three-hour lines at the airport, we long just to sit on a hill and feed grass to a chicken... Our true nature is to slow down.  Sit.  Watch the clouds.  Chickens, in their simple scratches and pecks, call us back to our true nature."  

That struck a strong chord with me.  That's exactly what my sweet donkeys give to me.  A re-connection with my true nature. When I let them.  When I'm not angry at having to push a wheelbarrow through the slush or getting exasperated with Luigi's penchant for blocking my way on the narrow snow paths.  When I stop and listen to the soft munching of hay and feel their gentle nibbles on my hand.  That's when I reconnect.  And that's how they help me slow down, look up at the sky and enjoy.