A Walk in the Woods

With new wet wellies we went woodsward at the weekend. At the end of one narrow path through the trees there stood two horses. I have known these woods since before I could walk and I didn’t know they were there. No one I know who lives here has ever mentioned it. But there they were, and we walked up to within 10 feet on them and they came two feet closer still, acknowledging us with steaming snorts in the damp silence of a wet morning.

They didn’t seem to mind and we appreciated their company. The kids just accepted it as two horses, but to me and wife it was something just short of magical. Kids are funny. They see what is there, they accept it, “can I have a cookie”. I guess this is the same open mindedness that lets them accept a 7 foot talking bear playing a trombone in a parade. While dad thinks “wow, that guy must be hot in there” and “so how is he moving his eyes?”, the kid thinks “hey, I’d like a trombone.”