A morning of grading

Saturday morning I had a huge pile of grading to plow through before my sister came to my folks' house to spend the weekend with me. We'd made grand plans that involved lots of tea, Duck Dynasty, naps, and baked goods. There would be absolutely no spare time for grading. I had. to get it done Saturday morning.

So I sat down to grade away after breakfast, and one graded essay later decided to take a short blogging break. Two blogs, half an article, and two hours later I found myself driving through the countryside trying to find fun things to capture on camera. Naturally.

These horses were too beautiful to drive past, so I pulled over and got out of the car to snap some photos.

Seconds after I stepped out of the car, the horse in the field closest to me started trotting toward me.

Closer and closer he ran,

 

until he was up at the fence, staring at me with his mild, inky eyes.

Hello pookie wookie snookie darling face!

We stood silently and looked at each other for a few minutes before I asked if I could pet him. He promptly wiped his mouth on my jacket, which I took to mean "Do you have any sugar cubes hidden in this sleeve?"

I didn't, but I petted him anyway, and he nuzzled me, and then we stared at each other some more. It was the beginning of a good friendship.

A few minutes later I moved down the fence to try to capture a picture of him with the barn in the background, but he moved with me. So I moved to the right, and he moved to the right. So I stopped trying to capture the perfect picture, and instead just stood and returned my friend's quiet gaze. Friends who force your phone into your pocket, with whom you can be still and silent, are the best friends.

After awhile, I told my new friend I had to leave — I had an untouched pile of grading, after all.

He was not happy about it.

"Neeeeeeighhhoooooooo" [translation: "Nooooooooooo!"]. But he blinked goodbye anyway, and watched me get in the car

and drive off.

And that is how I spent the morning grading.


© by scj