Bump in the Night

My weekend with Mother was mostly dark. It was well past dusk when she came up Saturday... I was starting to think it wasn't the weekend, even. She fed me first thing, which was nice, but then we went out to the barn porch for my brushing. I find the barn porch a tad creepy under the best of circumstances but at night...

The problem is, there is a light right behind and above me. I am in effect blinded, as I can't see much past the driveway and Mother's car. So I can't see any predators as they approach. This is unsettling. Magnifying the problem, I am a) tied, preventing escape if required, and b) standing in a big pool of light, easily visible to the predators. Why don't they just get a big flashing neon arrow sign to point at me that says "Tastes just like chicken!"?

Too, at this time of year the breeze is up and there are so many fallen leaves, it is difficult to discern the movements of the predators for all the other racket. I really wish Mother would brush me in the barn hallway, but when the others are being fed and moving around in the barn, we usually go out to the barn porch.

Tonight, Mother got there when it was still a little light out, and she was pulling my Contraption, aka the creepy pole thing

Summertime picture... I forgot there was green grass in there at times...

around the small pasture. The others were ogling it and snorting... they've seen it before silly fools.

Mother brought me in, squeezed me into my surcingle (it must have shrunk in the wash or something, I swear it wasn't this tight last weekend) and took me out to lunge a bit. I was boisterous, but well behaved. This means staying on the prescribed circle, and not pulling on Mother, nor did I buck, but I alternated between canter and road trot at will. At one point I heard Mother giggling: she said I was cantering like Peppy LePeu... something about pogo legs? I don't know what she was talking about, but I am thinking it wasn't very nice. When I was thinking we were probably finished, she had me trot and canter and halt on command in both directions, because she likes to see me be responsive to her requests. She is always very good about letting me know when I have done the right thing, so it is fun, I think.

By this time, it was quite dim out. Mother put my driving lines on, and we drove out into the small pasture, and worked around a bit. I was still puffing, a little... I'm not fat, I just have a good start on my winter coat, and it was warmish today. You try running around in a fur coat for awhile and see if you don't puff, too.

Mother took me into the aisle of the barn, but she hadn't undone my lines outside like usual... she instead hooked up the contraption, and back outside we went. I haven't had to drag the contraption around in forever, but it was kind of fun in the dark, swishing through big piles of leaves, as Mother kept steering me out to the fence of the pasture, and I kept trying to cut it short so I could just go home and eat. That never really works with her, but I continue to try. One day, she'll finally see my logic. I must admit, I do not understand the minds of humans at times. They are absolutely dense when it comes to doing things the easy way so I can go get food!

It is of course, full on dark by this point, with the moon behind the clouds. She drove me back around to the barnyard, unhitched me, fixed my dinner, gave me a good brushing while it was cooking, hurled a missile at the raccoons... then FINALLY, dinner. Yumm!! And I got lots of cookies, because I was a good, good boy. Mother said so.

I want to know, though: what does Mother do on the weekends that she can't come up and see me during the day? The work week is bad enough, and now she barely shows up on the weekends. She says she'll be around more this week, but I'll believe it when I see it.