Spirits' Gate

Can Animals Love?

2010-08-18T15:36:00.000-07:00

Growing up on a farm in Montana I learned many things about the world and the way love and life are uniquely entangled. I learned to appreciate how the many joys and sorrows exchanged between human beings and animals play as much of a role in our lives as in theirs. I often wondered of animals were capable of feeling love. After all, we humans generally consider our loved ones to be family, friends, pets and such. Often I have asked myself if animals share a common fondness with their own kind as well as their human friends. Are we parts of their collection of loved ones?

As a child I spent much of my time working with my father taking care of the livestock and the many tasks that a Montana farm demands. This included caring for the horses, donkeys, chickens and over two thousand pigs. This at times was a rewarding experience but could also be very miserable. We played many different roles in caring for the animals from parent to veterinarian.

One of my favorite animals on our farm was the horse we affectionately dubbed Trinket. Trinket was one of two horses we owned but the only one domesticated enough for us children to ride. She was a deep chestnut brown mare with a jet black mane. She was also a very polite and gentle-hearted horse who showed not a care in the world as I awed at her enormous size and pampered her with handfuls of her favorite snacks. Because she was not able to give birth to her own colt, she would sometimes “adopt” a stray calf or any other young animal caring for and protecting it. To my Dad’s amusement, this often included me. She reminded me of a big faithful dog following me around the pasture wherever I went. Dolly, our other horse was very free spirited and most of the family was afraid to ride her.

On an icy day in January, Dad and I began our daily ritual of loading the truck with hay bails to take down to the livestock. We carefully packed the back full of the musty smelling bails and headed out of the gravel driveway. We reached the pasture entrance and I waited in anticipation as Dad pulled the barbed wire gate across the fresh blanket of snow.

As the truck rolled over the wooden bridge we saw Trinket’s familiar shape immerse from the still dark morning. She had been sheltering herself throughout the night under a nearby thorn bush and was eagerly awaiting her morning treat of mixed grass and alfalfa hay. Her ears had a slight frost covering the tips and her nose breathed a soft mist into the cool air.

After we unloaded the hay, I jumped off the truck to stand by Trinket and warm my stinging hands against her side. Trinket stood with her head looming over me as if to harbor me from the other animals. Her size also offered a convenient and portable shelter from the winter breeze.

While Dad cut the twine and spread hay, the cows and donkeys gathered around in an unorganized group butting heads, each to insure their fair share of the bounty. Within a few minutes several cows and the three donkeys surrounded us. Trinket began nervously bobbing her head up and down and side to side. With no further warning, her hind legs lunged from the snow and struck one of the unsuspecting donkeys in the head nearly toppling him. The other two donkeys struggled to escape as Trinket relentlessly pounded them with her powerful hind legs. I stood there terrified at the scene but did not move away from her protective pose. I heard Dad cussing at the still perplexed donkeys as they scattered, momentarily reminding me of the three stooges. Tinker, one of the donkeys stopped and looked back at us for a moment. He was not physically injured but the position of his ears indicated he would not make that mistake twice.

Trinket is now in horse heaven but the undying love this tired old mare possessed stays with me to this day. When I make my summer visits to the farm, I am reminded of Trinket as I walk through the pasture land she loved so much. Although I no longer live on the family farm, I still have pets and continue to admire and appreciate their devotion. Do animals feel love? I have no doubt in my mind.

Love is

2010-08-05T21:42:00.000-07:00

Love is a wild dog.

Love is a whirlwind refusing to be contained.

Love is unpredictable.

Love is a river that cannot be dammed.

Love walks on a dark road with conviction.

Love chooses and follows you.

Love is having heroes, and losing them.

Love is pain.

The Man With Three Teeth

2010-08-05T21:41:00.000-07:00

For Sandy.

I once had a friend, who went to a far away land,

and on her journey she met a three toothed man.

A book of perversions he kept in his hand,

carpenters pencil and paper of sand.

What visions of pleasure had he in his head?

Of helpless old women tied up to his bed.

With no wife at home to cause him to dread,

a “do-it-yourselfer” his left hand instead.

He sat in his chair with pencil and pad,

sketching all the twisted thoughts that he had.

Any warm body would do for this lad,

the lady next door, her dog or her dad.

With quotes for the classmates he tries to impress,

a three toothed smile that stares at their breasts.

His cravings for flesh did cause him distress,

a drop of the pencil, a peek up a dress.

He delights in his classmates while taking this course,

a room full of women that he’d like to pork.

He thinks of them all while cocaine he snorts,

and dreams of a party he’d have in his shorts.

Through pop-bottle glasses he stares at fresh meat,

wretched and perverse from his head to his feet.

A creative writing class is sure hard to beat,

for the man with three teeth.

Little Ol' Me

2010-07-24T10:09:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here looking at a blog with no followers and wondering what to do with it. Of course, this is no big suprize being that I've posted twice since I started it a year ago. Should I keep it? Considering the "other" blog (or blog-like) medium, Facebook, is there any point in adding to this other than to amuse myself? That's the trick. But after careful thought, I think there is a point to having a blog even if it's only real purpose is to amuse oneself. But, the postings must have content and be something people (including the blogger) would want to come back to. Facebook is fun, and serves it's purpose as a "social" medium, but falls short of any ability to serve as an archive. With this in mind, I move forward.

Old Film Stuff

2010-07-11T01:26:00.000-07:00

So, today I got out some of my old Cokin filters and played around with them. This photo of Michelle is using a center spot filter. Ain't she a cutie!

New Website

2009-10-18T05:29:00.000-07:00

So, I started putting together the website this weekend amongst other things more pressing such as my son's birthday party. He had a fantastic time. My wife rented a pool for two hours, and many more kids showed than I had anticipated. So, for two hours he was on top of the world, like a little king and his followers.

First Blog

2009-09-14T22:35:00.001-07:00

This is going to be a lot of fun.