Yesterday, I had a happy accident – except it could have been tragic.

Ever had one of those?

Oy.

Y’know what I mean?… Everything turned out OK but it could have been a real disaster?

Kinda like a near miss in your car.  Suddenly someone swerves out in front of you and you think, “Just a second later and that would have been me in a wreck”.

Or, sometimes I happen upon an accident and think that if I had left my house just a few seconds earlier, it would have been me.

When those close calls happen, I always nod my head to the heavens, thanking whomever might be watching over me.

And, yesterday, I had another close call… I was nodding to the heavens like a bobblehead…

Yup.

I got real lucky.

YESTERDAY

Yesterday, I set out to spend 15 minutes supervising visitation between Bodhi and Princess Llamallamallama.  I haltered Bodhi and opened the gate between the two pastures.

She came running over (her ‘running’ always makes me laugh).

He stood politely behind me.

She pushed past us and went into Bodhi’s pasture.

Then she came right back.

They sniffed.  He snorffled her neck.  She made a bad noise and he stepped back.

That was it.

So, I unhaltered him – with my rope on the ready to swat or swing.

Nothing.  He wandered over to her food to tidy up.

She stood in a bush, eating poison oak (I love that about llamas!).

Hmmmm.  Boring.

I’d better get back to work.

So, I brought Bodhi out to eat grass for a while.  She stayed behind.

POWER OUTAGE

Once back in the house, I commenced work.

I don’t know about your employ, but in mine, my computer is very important to me.  Having a computer allows me to work from home.  A phone is good, too.  Printer, lights, flushing toilets and other stuff help as well.

So, when the power goes out, I kinda panic.

Flicker flicker…

Uh oh.

Flicker, flicker, sputter… SILENCE.

Crap.

The power is out.  My world has frozen in place.

Quickly I grabbed the old style phone, plug it in and call my boss.

“On my way to Starbucks…”, I said cheerily.  “Be there in a flash!”

Crap!!

I ran outside and grabbed Bodhi and threw him back in his pasture.

I raced inside, grabbed my stuff and flew off the property as fast as my Beetle would go!

(Did you catch my huge OOPS?)

 

SEVERAL HOURS LATER

I spent most of my day at Starbucks.

Kinda nice… we have a new one in Grass Valley and it is huuuuuuge.  It took over the other one which was so busy there were lines around the block – literally.

Not much to do in Grass Valley so Starbucks is a big draw…

Anyway, the new one is very nice.

I set up camp and continued my day as if nothing happened.

Several hours later, I received the courtesy call from PGE that the power back home was restored.

Yay!

I bought an old-fashioned doughnut to go and left my temporary office.

Lalaaalaadeedah, my power is back on…. time to go home…

I jumped in my car and headed over the hill to my ranchette.

ON THE WAY HOME

On the way home, I started musing over my day.

Laaa laaa dee dah…

I flipped a few radio stations and thought about what I had done and what I needed to do.

I dug into my doughnut bag.

And then it hit me.

HOLY CRAP!  I LEFT THE GATE OPEN BETWEEN THE TWO PASTURES!!!  AHHHHHHHHHHGH.

OMG.

All I could think about was Bodhi playing much too rough with the frail and tiny llama.

I pictured her cornered in the underbrush, hot and fatigued.  I pictured her being run all over the pasture with Bodhi in pursuit. I pictured her overheated and dying.  I pictured him grabbing her and throwing her around.  I pictured her with a broken leg.  I pictured coming home to a dead llama.  I thought about how I would tell you readers what I’d done.  I wondered if the nearest vet could tend to a llama.  I wondered if I could get her in my trailer.

I floored my car and drove those well-known curves like Mario Andretti.

I got so close to the cars in front of me that they all pulled over to let me through.

I was on a desperate high speed mission.

When I arrived at my gate, I opened it and didn’t bother closing it.

I flew up the driveway, spitting rocks and gravel into the flanking pastures.

All of the horses were looking at me as if I was crazy.

TESS:  HEY HEY HEY, SLOW DOWN!  What is wrong with you?  Too much dust, honey!

GWEN (yawning):  What is it?  We were all sleeping.

ROJO:  AHHHHHH!  What?!  Should I be worried?!!

It occurred to me that none of the horses were upset.  So, either they were missing the carnage happening behind the house, or it had been over for so long, they’d forgotten the horrible events in the back pasture…

I parked my car right outside Bodhi’s gate, flung open my door and ran (in my good clothes) up into their space.

Bodhi was innocently picking up any leafy bit he could find by where she eats.

My eyes furiously panned the pasture looking for a black mass that normally fades into the trees and bushes anyway…

WHERE is she?!  I was panicking.

And then I saw her.

She was sitting in the far corner.  Not her usual spot but it was a big shady spot.

I ran over to her, “Are you OK?!!!!”

She looked at me.

OK, she wasn’t dead.

“Can you walk?!”

She didn’t move.

“GET UP!”, I said as I pushed her a little.

She shot me a dirty llama look.

Slowly, she rose.

Her back legs looked like they were in a funny position.

“Are you OK??!!  Do your legs work?”

She looked at me with complete llama indifference and blankness.

“I don’t know what that look means!  Can you walk?!”

She didn’t move.

“C’mon llamalllamallama… walk with me… “, I tried to coax her.

Nothing.

She just stood there, very awkwardly, with her back legs all wonky.

Agghhhhh.

I ran to get some llama grain.

When I came back, she had moved.

Me:  Are you OK?!

Princess Llama:  “No thanks to you.”

Me:  Aww, C’mon.  I didn’t mean it.

PL:  “Uh huh.  Talk to the cloven hoof.”

She turned and walked away…

And so it was.

I dodged a bullet but my llama was pissed, a little bit.

Or, she was working my guilt.  dunno.

I quickly put Bodhi on his side and shut the gate.

Phew.

TODAY

So today at lunchtime, I let them together while I watched.

Bodhi marched over to her.

She stood there.

Bodhi snorfelled her and she made this horrible noise that was other-worldly in a scarily eerie way and he backed off like she was an alien with a ray gun.

Hmmmmmm.  I stood in awe and giggled a little.

Bodhi hid behind me.

“Atta girl, Princess Llamallamallama!  Give him some of your Llamatude!”

(I’m guessing she gave him some of her Llamatude when they were together…)

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

I’m guessing Llamatude is EXACTLY what Bodhi needed.

So, I’m smiling now – I will still supervise their visits for a while…

But I think she’s got his number!

That’s all I’m sayin’.

Llamatude.

HORSE AND MAN is a blog in growth… if you like this, please pass it around!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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