Lucky, Luckier, Luckiest

My niece is a total animal freak – “Whew” was the collective expression uttered by my sister and me when the kid took her first steps towards becoming a real animal person. “Oh good, she is expressing her “animal genes,” said we with a laugh. But really, in our modern society with so many things competing for the attention of our children, it is no small thing to see any kid “out there” mucking stalls, reading horse books, learning the disciplines of riding – or just wanting to know the difference between a Thoroughbred and a Quarter Horse.

Dressed in knee-high rubber dairy boots, my hair pulled through a ball cap and my sweatshirt covered in muddy paw prints, horse hair and a little hay, I lean on my pitchfork and soak up the barn atmosphere and am reminded of my favorite E.E. Cummings poem. “Lucky means finding holes where pockets aren’t. Lucky’s to spend laughter, not money. Lucky are breathe, grow, dream, die, love – not fear, eat, sleep, kill and have. You am lucky. Is we lucky, luckier, luckiest.” I know this is true and I know that all my friends who endeavor for the sake of a life with animals – feel the same way. “Lucky, luckier, luckiest.”