Morning and Night

After milking and/or feeding the goats, the next chore is to clean stalls.  The barn being built as it is, I have to rake up the poo pellets, shovel them into a two-gallon bucket that hangs on the wall, haul the bucket out and empty it over the fence (always checking first to see which way the wind is blowing).  Going about the business of the day, when I took the bucket off the nail, I found this little creature at the bottom, nearly dead.  What to do?  Well, I just happened to have some warm milk at hand that wasn't needed, dipped in a finger and let the little kid lap at a few drops.  It took a few tries before he stopped blowing bubbles and actually took in a couple of sips.  Cold he was, so I held him close in my palm and blew warm breath over him.  Gradually, Larry (named after one of my kind-hearted, animal-loving Kids) began to stir and it gave me hope.

However, now I was in a quandary of another sort.  I could imagine the gleam of joy in the cats' eyes if I were to bring Larry into the house, but I wasn't sure he could make it if I were to leave him.  Time was slipping by and I still had stalls to clean.  I had to make a decision.  Warmed, he was moving better and so I put him down close to a mouse hole, hoping that if it weren't the right one, another mouse would give him directions home.  Not sure if I'd find his keeled-over body or him gone when I got done in the back of the barn, I was delighted to find that Larry had made his way over to the breakfast bar, stuffing his face.  A little wobbly, yes, but sitting up and taking nourishment!  I love happy endings.

It was hard to decide whether to call today's entry "Morning and Night" or "East and West."  Another spectacular sunset in the west, definitely, but then I turned back toward the house and saw the full moon rising in the east.  How to choose which view?  Like a double-dip ice cream cone when there are two favorite flavors, I opted for both.

Sun lighting the bottom of the clouds and moon shining down from above.

It was a good day.