Surveying The Farm

Magic is our oldest peacock. He shows his protectiveness of the farm by taking up his post on one of the highest buildings on the farm. He is a true guardian in every sense of the word.  While in his statuesque stand he continually surveys the skyline and sends up a call if he sees anything that is out of the ordinary. Or, more importantly, if anyone is not in their assigned pasture.

One lazy summer afternoon, he sent up several loud calls. So many that it brought me running out of the house. As I made my appearance in the compound, I saw him running past the house and down the drive with three other peacocks following him. I dashed to the drive to see that they were chasing three of our miniature donkeys. My heart pounded, the donkeys were out of their pasture and the last thing I wanted to spend the day doing was chasing donkeys throughout our neighbors fields. I ran to the barn,  filled a bucket with grain and grabbed leads. When I exited the feed room, the donkeys were barreling down the drive back to the barn. Wild eyed, with adrenaline driving my legs to the barn doors, I grabbed them and threw them open. The donkeys hustled into the barn and into their stalls with the peacocks hot on their tails. I stood quietly as the donkeys received their “balling out” for leaving the area. After a few minutes, the peacocks fluffed their feathers and stalked out of the barn. I thanked them as they left and shook my head at the donkeys.

The only thing I could add was a time out in their stalls.

Unframed Version of "Surveying The Farm" is also available in the Poster Gallery