I stopped by to see Rocky this afternoon. In the late afternoon, he is always standing by his barn, which collapsed in the heavy snows of 2011, like so many others. Rocky looks well, as always, fed and groomed. He is waiting on the farm with his elderly companion, and she lives alone on the farm with him. The two are making a stand together on the farm, and they touch me  deeply, symbols of strength, loyalty and love.

Rocky is always curious to see me, and I think he isn’t sure what to make of me. He used to be skittish, but now he listens when I come over and talk to him and take photos of him. Some see Rocky as in need of rescue, but I do not. He has shelter, love and attention and his own pasture. And he is with the person he has spent all of his life with, and she is with him for as long as she can be.