Hoofbeats

There was more fire Sunday night and Monday: I had finally bought a cell phone, called Jean and found out that the fire jumped all defenses and headed right for our base. Sunday night the fire burned right up to the mini pasture, the containers and the dogs. The men (responding to someone on the farm who said they’d seen flames close to the entrance of the preserve) watched Sunday night as the horses panicked and ran out of their mini pasture (which burned to a crisp). They tried to round them up but let them go again because they were too frightened. They then worked around the base to keep the fire away from the containers and the dogs’ big pen.

Then they did what they could at the containers, and at times the fire stopped only inches from causing terrible trouble . . .

To make a long story short, the horses came back Monday, though I spent two hours on top of the steel sunroof of the tractor as Jean drove all over and we searched for them. The farm roads are all overgorwn. To get to where we thought the horses might be we had to cut our way through thick bush:

At one point we hit a terrible bump, I lost my balance, threw myself flat on my back (or was thrown), my feet shot forward and Jean grabbed an ankle. Whooee! What a ride!

While all this went on, Avener couldn’t reach us to tell us the horses were back — too much tractor noise to hear the radio — so he calmed them and put a mini pasture around them all by himself. Then we repaired as much fence as we could, and we hauled water for the horses because their water hole is no longer fenced (will be shortly). They got the water just after dark. I had planned ahead for this and there are two bath tubs in their corral area (wooden corral, didn’t burn . . .). The well is nearby so it’s easy to keep the tubs full. Except some frogs died in one so we used only one Within two days the horses had access to their normal water holes.

The dogs are fine, Jean said they weren’t panicked though the fire came so close. Good thing I wasn’t there, doubt if my mind would have survived.

It was about this time that the truck's engine started making ominous noises.Three mechanics have said it's terminal. Ever the optimist, I'm waiting for another friend to really get under the hood.


		Fire Story 4
	There was more fire Sunday night and Monday: I had finally bought a cell phone, called Jean and found out that the fire jumped all defenses and headed right for our base. Sunday night the fire burned right up to the mini pasture, the containers and the dogs. The men (responding to someone on the farm who said they’d seen flames close to the entrance of the preserve) watched Sunday night as the horses panicked and ran out of their mini pasture (which burned to a crisp). They tried to round them up but let them go again because they were too frightened. They then worked around the base to keep the fire away from the containers and the dogs’ big pen. Then they did what they could at the containers, and at times the fire stopped only inches from causing terrible trouble . . . To make a long story short, the horses came back Monday, though I spent two hours on top of the steel sunroof of the tractor as Jean drove all over and we searched for them. The farm roads are all overgorwn. To get to where we thought the horses might be we had to cut our way through thick bush: At one point we hit a terrible bump, I lost my balance, threw myself flat on my back (or was thrown), my feet shot forward and Jean grabbed an ankle. Whooee! What a ride! While all this went on, Avener couldn’t reach us to tell us the horses were back — too much tractor noise to hear the radio — so he calmed them and put a mini pasture around them all by himself. Then we repaired as much fence as we could, and we hauled water for the horses because their water hole is no longer fenced (will be shortly). They got the water just after dark. I had planned ahead for this and there are two bath tubs in their corral area (wooden corral, didn’t burn . . .). The well is nearby so it’s easy to keep the tubs full. Except some frogs died in one so we used only one Within two days the horses had access to their normal water holes. The dogs are fine, Jean said they weren’t panicked though the fire came so close. Good thing I wasn’t there, doubt if my mind would have survived. It was about this time that the truck's engine started making ominous noises.Three mechanics have said it's terminal. Ever the optimist, I'm waiting for another friend to really get under the hood.