{"id":1864,"date":"2011-06-27T02:45:38","date_gmt":"2011-06-27T09:45:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/?p=1864"},"modified":"2011-10-15T12:21:10","modified_gmt":"2011-10-15T19:21:10","slug":"the-summer-solstice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/?p=1864","title":{"rendered":"The Summer Solstice."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

You won’t look back and laugh at everything.\u00a0 Which is why you haven’t heard about how we lost Applejacks and Ray-Ray last summer.\u00a0 There wasn’t anything funny about how we found Applejacks lying still in the woods.\u00a0 Or how we held Ray-Ray through the night and hoped that at least he would survive the colic that had struck them both down.\u00a0 Even I could not squeeze out a drop of humor or sarcastic quip about that summer solstice morning when we woke to face the longest day of the year and the rest of our lives without our miniature horse, Applejacks, and our blind sheep, Ray-Ray.<\/p>\n

So I didn’t write about it.\u00a0 I just held my kids close and let their tears soak into my shirt.\u00a0 And when all that was left of our sobs was sniffles and hiccups, we finally sat up.\u00a0 We did the milking.\u00a0 We gathered the eggs.\u00a0 We harvested the onions whose tops had fallen over.\u00a0 Because if the farm sometimes grinds you under its heel, it also always gives you plenty of reasons to get up and get on with it.\u00a0\u00a0 So we got on without Applejacks’ velvety muzzle checking our palms for treats or Ray-Ray nuzzling the back of our knees and as he followed us trustingly around the barnyard.\u00a0 Such is life.<\/p>\n

But I admit that my heart stumbled when I got the call over Christmas.\u00a0 A Shetland pony was in need of rescue in a neighboring town.\u00a0 Her owner had to leave the state suddenly and wouldn’t be coming back.\u00a0 Was I interested in coming to take a look at her?\u00a0 Well, was I ready to hear an ear-splitting whinny whenever the deck door opened or a car pulled in the driveway?\u00a0 Did I want another big, broad face breathing heavy in my ear whenever I was tightening the barn door hinges or wiping out the water trough?\u00a0 Was I willing to worry about colic when grain was spilled or founder when the grass was lush?\u00a0 Could I stand to see my children devastated or risk feeling helpless and heartbroken again?<\/p>\n

Please.\u00a0 What is a farm unless you can wake up, peer out the window at your barns and fields and be filled with courage, hope, and the conviction that this time everything will go exactly as planned?\u00a0 Just a strip of land, that’s what.<\/p>\n

So we went to a barn and met Candy Corn for the first time.\u00a0 We scratched our heads and rubbed our chins and pretended to thoughtfully consider taking her home.\u00a0 As if we would have ever left without her.\u00a0\u00a0 Unless she was kicking holes through stall doors and tearing off people’s flesh with her teeth.\u00a0 In which case, we would have taken her home very carefully.<\/p>\n

This year the summer solstice arrived with the same heat and humidity as last year.\u00a0 The sun was scorching, the air buzzing with insects, the mud around the pond dried and caked.\u00a0 But this time a whinny greeted us as we headed out with the milk pail.\u00a0 Candy Corn stood faithfully by the gate awaiting her grain and her morning chin scratch.\u00a0 And one could believe that this farm had never been without a swishing tail or impatient hoof stamp.\u00a0 Now everyone will tell you that one animal cannot replace another.\u00a0 Although if you rush out while your kids are still sleeping you might get another goldfish that’s similar enough to fool anyone under age 5–and next time don’t forget to put the dechlorinator in the water when you clean the tank!\u00a0 Plus there was that time when we were in charge of the classroom hamster over school break and…well, never mind.\u00a0 The point is what critter cannot heal with his soft furry coat or her gentle dewy eyes?\u00a0 The presence of a sweet and trusting soul or mischievous trickster has the ability to sweep the sadness out of our hearts and leave us with just the joyous memory of those that have come before.<\/p>\n

This year we filled the longest day of the year, not with weeping, but with the humorous stories of our time with Applejacks and Ray-Ray.\u00a0 We remembered the way Applejacks liked to lift the hoof exactly opposite the one you were asking for just for fun.\u00a0\u00a0 And how Ray-Ray suckled knees, elbows, and noses in his blind pursuit for the bottle when he was a lamb.\u00a0 We chuckled.\u00a0 We laughed.\u00a0 We filled our day with the long hours of light and let those brief painful hours of darkness just slip away.\u00a0 And all the while we stroked Candy Corn’s velvety muzzle as she checked our hands for treats.\u00a0 We relaxed on the picnic table as she rubbed her smooth flanks against our backs.\u00a0 We ran our fingers through tangles in her mane and thought we heard the contented sighs of Applejacks and Ray-Ray when a wisp of summer breeze stirred the trees.<\/p>\n

Maybe you can<\/em> always look back and laugh.<\/p>\n

Welcome, summer.\u00a0 We miss you, Applejacks and Ray-Ray.\u00a0 We love you, Candy Corn.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You won’t look back and laugh at everything.\u00a0 Which is why you haven’t heard about how we lost Applejacks and Ray-Ray last summer.\u00a0 There wasn’t anything funny about how we found Applejacks lying still in the woods.\u00a0 Or how we held Ray-Ray through the night and hoped that at least he would survive the colic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[40,39],"class_list":["post-1864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-sweet-spot","tag-lamb","tag-pony"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1864"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1864\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3029,"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1864\/revisions\/3029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}