All my darlings are getting old(er).......

It's 5:30 in the morning and I can hear the birds staking their claims, warning off rivals, expressing their joy at simply being alive. It rained hard during the night but now the air feels fresh and clean and the dirt that was so dry and powdery is a dark chocolatey brown and the sound of myriad tiny drops of water falling down, from leaf to leaf is the chorus behind the bird songs.

I'm out early this morning because there's no hay left in the feeder and I want Ambra and Sierra to spend a few hours out on the grass before the heat of the day brings the flies back out of their hiding places. They just watch me as I pass their stalls on the way to opening the gate. I expected that they would follow after me, eager to get out to the grass after the long night of taking refuge from the rain but they don't. Strange. So I've had to go back and lead them out.

But as I take the bottom of Sierra's halter and begin to lead her I realize one more time, how old my darling has suddenly gotten. Her steps are halting and she moves each foot with hesitation. I'm reminded of the old people that shuffle behind their walkers. When did this happen? When did her bones begin to ache so much that it takes her time to warm up and begin to move easier? Because she will warm up, and her movements will become more fluid and it will be easier for her. Ambra doesn't seem to suffer like this as much, she walks easily still.

They are both 21 years old now and I thought that they had many more years ahead of them and yet here are the signs of that old age that I didn't expect - yet. The one downside to this paddock that they live in now is that it is a bit of a hillside and I wonder how they will navigate this in the years to come. But one thing I have learned in the past fifteen years of having them in our lives is that it is senseless to worry about tomorrow or next year or......I'll figure that out when it comes. In the meantime, I will make a point of spending a little bit of time each day, encouraging them to move, encouraging them to get a little exercise, encouraging them to keep on living.