I'm doing a thing.

This is Boone. Boone is 13 years old, and is 2 inches taller than the very top of my head... *at his shoulder*. (17 hands, for those who know) Boone is a Percheron gelding.

And a bonus horse,

Well...

I was wrong.

Honey brought this one up to meet me today, and she is being very attentive, and the little one is eating well already.

So, one of the new mamas that day *must* have dropped a twin and either it was stillborn and she never bonded with it, or she rejected it.

This makes fifteen lambs out of 14 moms this year! And Pookah was not bred - hell, she still isn't totally convinced that she is a sheep, rather than a dog, so I don't think she's ever going to *allow* herself to be bred!

i was.

he was an elder in my faith group. to me, he wasn't a broken step - i never felt "skeeved out" or "creeped on" by him like some girls were. i never felt unsafe with him. he just felt like a socially awkward guy who sometimes made jokes that fell flat, but never ever anything that felt disrespectful or inappropriate to me. just... awkward.

but other women did feel creeped out. felt as if he was being inappropriate in a very predatory way. felt unsafe. and it was weird, because i was actually present for some of these occurrences, and yet, i didn't see what they apparently felt. i didn't feel any of the predatory vibes. maybe it was because i wasn't the target? maybe it's because i knew him longer than them? maybe it was because i was just fuckin clueless.

but when the shit finally hit the fan, and someone spoke up and laid complaints out to the rest of the elders... this wasn't something one could be neutral on. it wasn't something *I* would be allowed to be neutral on. if i didn't side with the "victims", then i was their enemy, too. it was "us" vs "him", and if you weren't "us", then you were ejected from the entire group, along with "him".

he was my friend. but so were so many other people, including a couple that were laying accusations. (only ever of feelings, not of actions, I have to clarify... no one ever said he *did* anything, except make them feel creeped out) other, older women came forward, saying that, now that you mention it, yeah, he always gave them the creeps, too... and so, everyone was pretty much forced to decide - the "creep"? or the church?

it's real hard being a woman who thinks that the other women are just completely wrong. but who am i to police their emotions? who am i to invalidate their experiences? just because i didn't see it or feel it... does that mean they're full of shit? but it sucked, being told point blank that i was either with them, or with "the creep".

i should have seen the writing on the wall then, honestly. i let myself get pressured into distancing myself from him, and he was ejected from the church. i only lasted another year there, i think, before i stopped going to events, too, because there was just too much... division now. the choosing of sides didn't stop with him. it continued over all manner of petty things, until everything was fractured, and the dream of fellowship was all dependent upon who you were "in" with. since said church was six hours from home at the time, it was pretty easy to just...

stop.

stop going to events. stop talking to the various splinter groups. stop keeping track of things. only talk to the three or four folks i was still close to.

but i screwed up. i never reached back out to him. i should have, but i was settling into a very.... antisocial lifestyle. also, i was ashamed. years passed, i moved. more years passed and it was easier to just... keep coasting. there'd be time later, maybe.

except time ran out last week.

i don't know what happened. either he'd been sick for a while, or.... well, he left a note, trying to make arrangements for his dog. except the person named, well, she can't really do it.

it's been years, but pretty much all of his friends knew that if it involved a dog, then they should call me. prefaced with a very quick, "we know *you* can't do it, but can you help us find a soft landing for his dog that the police just dumped in a high kill shelter?"

i feel like i should have been a better friend to him in life. i'll be gods fucking *damned* if i let him down now.

i've never had a husky before, but i've always kinda wanted one. friends are making the drive up to bring him to me probably on friday, if they can cut through all the red tape and shit. otherwise, his soft landing will be waiting here, with my pack, when they can get him sprung loose.

This month's chewy order, however, I decided to add an extra bag, just in case, because the company that makes that kibble warned distributors that they were getting hurt with tariff nonsense, and would be *significantly* increasing prices as of the first week of April. I could squeeze one extra bag into my budget, and if the prices *did* jump, it would save me a little later. and if they *don't* jump, well, no big deal, it will get eaten eventually.

except I had forgotten that I had snagged an extra bag *last* month, because of all the potential future tariff nonsense... so now I am *two* bags up for next month! *and* I am starting the month with the current open bag in the bin being 90% full...

and here's the newest little one standing right in front of one of the first little ones of the season.... they grow fast!