I work 8-4 every Wednesday, so it's always his day off. When I get home, I usually turn him out in the round pen to roll, muck the stall, lead him around in the dark for a while to stretch his legs, then put him back in with his hay & snack. Tonight he was quiet and trusting and perfectly mannered. He kept his nose right at my elbow, a hand width away, ears flopping, step perfectly in time with mine. We were both so relaxed, I found myself confiding in Butch mule about all sorts of things that I won't go into here, they were for his ears only...
Back in the paddock, leading him back to his stall, I hear a peal of laughter in the darkness. It's the other mule owner who had been walking by us. I realized I had been chattering away in a one-sided conversation with my mule, like a patient on a psychiatrist's couch. I could see Butch nodding knowingly, going "Hmmm..." at appropriate moments.
On another note, reading the news today, I suddenly remembered the initial reason I had decided on wagon travel. Because I think I might need a wagon, equine(s), and the skills to drive it at some future point. I do feel tremendous regret at not finishing the wagon I had started to build. At the same time, I know selling the gear was the right thing to do. I don't have a passion to build a wagon. I have a passion to use a wagon for travel. So... that adventure is simply postponed. I'll return to it, with a different wagon, later.
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