I don’t put up photos of Red and Rocky often, I’m not a big fan of nostalgia, of looking backwards, I prefer to appreciate what I have, not what I’ve lost, but some stories are sweet and powerful and ought to be remembered. Rocky was the blind Appaloosa pony who led Maria and I to our new home. Red took Rocky under his wing and became his eyes, a remarkable friendship I will never forget.

Rocky would sniff to find where Red was and follow him along his path to the water or back into the barn. Red would walk a few yards, sit and wait patiently for Rocky to find him through smell and then walk ahead again. He did this for a month or two until we made the difficult decision to euthanize the pony on the eve of our first winter and in the face of the donkeys’ complete rejection of him. It was all too much for this frail and blind creature, able to live alone in a fenceless pasture with no sight for 15 years, but not able to survive the new people and their animals. Life is full of crisis and mystery.

I went looking for a Rocky and a Red photo, painful for Maria and for me too, important not to forget. Life goes on, but it needs to be respected.