When Simon lay near death in our pasture, I brought him some fresh hay and medicine. At that time, Simon could not stand up, he was too weak and his legs were too twisted. I read him a story one day from “Platero and I,” the Spanish classic I still read to Simon two or three times a week (I’ll do a video this week) and I remember reading him the story of Platero and his owner, walking on a path. Platero loved a little burro on the farm by the path, and he would always pause and look for her on his walks with his owner. She mostly ignored him, and he would stand staring at her, love-sick, until his owner gently plodded him along.

One day, I told Simon, you will have a girlfriend, and he looked up at me and let out a loud bray. (He now has two girlfriends, Lulu and Fanny).  I don’t really know what Simon was saying, but this is what I heard him saying and still do hear him saying:

“Hey! Wake Up! Pay attention to the real world.”

“Life is too short to spent it quivering, listening to small people tell you how to live your life! Too short to be angry, or hopeless.

Use your time to find love,  to avoid the angry and judgmental legions. Your life is not an argument, but a choice.  Life is a privilege each day. I have learned to be grateful.

Hey, he tells me, don’t be a mope. Don’t be a dope.”