The Öko Box: Everybody's Got SOmething To Hide 'cept for Me and Mah DOnkee!

Yesterday in the early evening JuJu Bean my donkey arrived! Yipppeeeee! I practically ran down my road to meet the man dropping her off cause I was so excited to finally see her --- since he didn't think his horse trailer could make it up my steep gravel road we decided to take her out down there and that I would walk her up (about a mile).
When she first jumped out the horse carrier, he handed me the rope and she literally dragged my tiny ass about 20 feet down the road, with me pulling as hard as i could to get her to stop .... the man came and stopped her for me, then sent me on my way alone to my cabin.
Just me and JuJu Bean... he said we could "bond" along the way.

Considering I was a total stranger, she was very well behaved, I kept handing her little pieces of carrot and tried keeping her going in the right direction --- which she didn't want to go. She would try to turn back down the road suddenly and i would try walking her in circles till we turned back towards my cabin again....she kept testing me out until finally she accidently stepped on my foot! YOUCH! And I screamed in pain (loud echo through the forest) - this for some reason made her more compassionate to me, and we moved along more smoothly.
It took me only a short while to realize the sound of the creek & small waterfalls was scaring her- so with carrot treats we hauled along till we got to the turn to my house....

Where WE HAVE to CroSs a CREEK to get there!!!! JuJu Bean was NOT having it. As in there was no f-en way she was crossing that water with me, no matter how many carrots and lara bars pieces I bribed her with --- she stood her ground and protected her fear with all her body weight.

So for the first hour we talked. I looked her in the eye and explained how there was no way to get home except to cross that water. I then showed her it was safe to cross by crossing it a couple times by myself (while she was tied to a tree). After a long time seemed to pass, and I had watched a raccoon cross the creek instead of JuJu, I decided to go look for some help. I ran up the road, leaving poor JuJu behind to knock on neighbor's doors - but no one was home. I found an apple tree & a dog and figured I would take any help I could get. I put out LOUD Clear messages to the universe to send someone/anyone/anything who could help me.

The dog ran back home and with just some apples I got back to JuJu at the tree- who started to wag her lil' tail and gave me the saddest scratchiest HEE HAW I could have ever been blessed with! She was happy to see me! I left the apples with her and then ran back to my house to call for help....

then came back down to JuJu, where we did a hella lotta "bonding" while sitting there waiting. And Waiting. waiting, waiting so much that... Oh shit it's now getting dark..... and darker, and no one has come.... and darker.... the owls hooted a long f*ckin' time ago. It finally got so dark I could not even see JuJu or even my own hands in front my face, my eyes burned to keep them open in the total darkness that had evolved over the hours. And I knew the help that I had called was never coming, I had no flashlight, ... i tried to think of what to do, but my eyes would just close and I would sigh. JuJu didn't want me to walk even 1 foot away from her in the darkness.

Then, like a light at the end of a black forested tunnel, someone was driving up the road! It wasn't the help I called for on the phone, but rather the help I called for telepathically in my panic'ed wonderings around my 'hood. A neighbor pulled up to the sight of a donkey tied to a tree and a worn out girl- and asked "are you alright?"

No. not alright.

But saved.

She said she had a horse who wouldn't cross that same creek, and she had a barn further up the road without any creeks to cross - a barn with horse stalls that JuJu could stay the night (is this not Soooooo baby jesus, mary and joseph??!?)

My Savin' Grace neighbor pulled her car around to shine light on the road, her dog added emphasis on it being the right time to move along, and JuJu practically dragged my tired ass so fast uphill I could hardly catch my breath. When we got to her place JuJu went right into the horse stall...........