Dear Old Friend,
I walked by the cobbler the other day and your smell came back to me. The sheen of your pelt. The shape of your eyes as they blinked away flies. Your baby soft muzzle. Your herbaceous horse breath. Do you remember our long rides on the fundo in Chile? Do you remember feeding from apple trees and blackberry brambles after cantering across The Sound of Music field? I do. How could you forget?
It's been almost seven years since I last saw you. You were an older horse then, and an even older horse now. Though maybe you're a dead horse now.
Life has grown (as it does) since our parting. I left New York City and moved to Portland, Oregon to immerse myself in tree life. You always had a way with trees, so I'm sure you can understand.
I have a nice life, one that I try not to take for granted. I eat well and in the warmer months most of my food comes from the garden. I have a husband and a child. I have two cats. I have a space to make things. I work on one project or another most of the time. I have ten fingers and ten toes, two functional legs, a pair of milked boobs, and the slightest mustache only visible in morning sunshine. I'm thankful for all of this.
I often wonder what it would be like to be a horse like you. To feel horsey. To nap (if I choose) while standing up. I think about the simplicity of hay and how my innards would digest such a thing. If I were a horse.
Have you ever thought (or if your'e dead - did your ever think) about being a species other than the one you are? Did you ever wonder what it would be like to be an eel or a parrot or an Alaskan malamute? How about being human? Did that particular fantasy ever come across your foal mind?
I've been reading to my daughter and in many of the books animals are either dressed as humans or dressed as other animals. Rarely are the animals dressed as themselves. The excessive anthropomorphizing in these books is confusing. What is the animal? A bear or a boy? A cat or a bird? A sheep or a monkey? A worm or a midget? Anyway. I imagine if horses were to write and illustrate picture books, they would surely keep a horse looking like a horse. But maybe I'm wrong.
Well that's it for now. Please give yourself a good long walk for me.
Love,
FF