Like most animals, donkeys love ritual. If you greet them one morning at 7 a.m., they will be waiting for you the next morning at 7 a.m., sometimes for years, whether you show up or not. Maria and I show up. All three come over to her for a greeting, a hug, a bump and a carrot. It is a sweet ritual, a sacred rite. One of the sweet rythyms of the farm.