You could do a lot worse in the world than being a donkey who lives with Maria. Every morning, we and the dogs go out together, for morning chores, for training and running, and to check on the animals.

Every morning, Maria brings a bowl – in this case a dog food bowl – out to Lulu and Fanny. The bowl is full of goodies, many of them gourmet goodies, that Maria has been saving, sometimes for days — pineapple and apple rinds, carrots, bread saved from restaurants, greens no longer quite fresh, you get the idea.

Today, the treat bowl had so many goodies we had to use Red’s dog food bowl. The donkeys, sweet and smart creatures that they are, never get pushy or grab at the food or run into Maria.

She says good morning to them, chats and sings songs to them and hands them their morning refreshment one by one, waiting patiently in between while they crunch away.

Lulu was the first to arrive this morning, Fanny was right behind. I love this ritual, it comes right out of Maria’s big heart and great love for her donkeys. The chickens get a bowl too, just not quite as big, and they get theirs dumped on the ground.