Life on the farm is filled with moments, some good, some bad. Almost all are special. The best ones often involve our animals. One of my favorites is the morning kiss I give to Fanny. It’s awfully hot out today, but Fanny wanted her kiss.

Fanny is Lulu’s sister. She came to me a few months before Lulu. Those first days together on Bedlam Farm were very special.

My wife Paula wasn’t crazy about my move, or my farm. I was alone with the animals for some time.

Rose was my dog then. Fanny tried to kick her and Rose bit her on the nose.

After that, there was no trouble. And since then, Fanny has always been welcoming to my dogs.

Donkeys can be eternally loyal. They can also be eternally difficult. If a donkey loves you, it is forever. If they don’t love you, that is forever also. Donkeys have the longest memories of any animal I know.

One year, right after my breakdown, I sent all the animals on the farm to Daryl, a friend, and a farmer. I just couldn’t take care of them.

When I got better, he brought them all back. For three or four years. Lulu wanted nothing to do with me.

Then, she forgave me and allowed me to brush her.

It is a special moment to kiss a donkey on their soft nose.

The best way to do it is to lift a chin up with one hand and raise the nose to your lips. Then lean down and plant a kiss.

Make sure you know the donkey well, of course.

Do not do this to a strange donkey. Donkeys can be moody.  And lots of donkeys have been mistreated and are wary of humans.

Fanny and I are tight. She is always happy to snuggle with me. We are always glad to see each other. She reads my mood just by looking at me. If I’m in a good mood, she sidles over to me. If I’m not, she gives me space.

Donkeys are guard animals, that’s why I got them at first. Now I just love them, and they are sisters to Maria. Lulu is often too busy scanning the horizon for intruders.

Fanny loves to be kissed on the nose, but it’s up to her when. Sometimes she wants a kiss, sometimes not.

She closes her eyes while I scratch her jaw with the hand that lifted her face up. Lulu likes to be kissed sometimes, she is irritable in freezing cold and on hot and humid days like this one.

Donkeys are desert and mountain animals, they can handle almost any kind of weather but they hate icy rain. I love starting my day in this way, even on so hot and sticky a day.

It sets the right tone. The donkeys enrich my life, every single day. They know people very well, they’ve been putting up with us for thousands of years.

_P.S. The White Hen made a full recovery from the dog attack on her the other day, and Maria’s knee is fine, the wound dry and healing.