Hrimmi: Hay’s a little late this evening.
Tyra: Yes, and I am so hungry.
H: Why is our evening feeding late?
T: Alys and Pete went someplace earlier, I’m not sure where.
H: They fed us before they left.
T: I guess they figured we were satiated?
H: What does satiated mean?
T: Full.
H: Why didn’t you use the word full?
T: Satiated is more all encompassing. It means to not want more food.
H: But I always want more food.
T: Well then you will never be satiated.
H: Will I ever be full?
T: Most likely not.
H: Are humans this way also?

Alys and Tyra

T: Well then you will never be satiated.
H: Will I ever be full?
T: Most likely not.
H: Are humans this way also?
T: Same deal. They just eat different things.
H: I have noticed. I have smelled meat on Pete’s breath.
T: But not Alys’s breath.
H: No, never. But I have never seen them eat hay or grass.
T: I’ll bet if they are hungry enough that they’d do this.
H: Would they eat our hay?
T: They’d most likely eat us first.
H: Do you really think so?
T: I’d rather not think about it.
H: Do you think they’d first eat the goats or chickens?
T: From what I understand, they’ve stockpiled some food.
H: How do you know this?
T: I heard Alys ask Pete about this one day as he was pulling weeds. He assured her that they have enough food for a while.
H: And what about us?
T: This is something Alys worries about. She is really happy these days because it was a good hay year.
H: Yes. Raudi hasn’t coughed at all since we got in the latest batch.
T: Yes, what we are eating right now.
H: Good stuff, this hay. Right here, there’s a lot of timothy.
T: Have you noticed alongside the road? Patches of timothy.
H: Yes. I know why this is. The water ran out of the pen, through the pipe, into the road. It contained hay seeds that we did not digest.
T: And the hay seeds embedded themselves in the roadside soil and grew up. Then the seeds produced more seeds.
H: This is all well and good. But what are we going to do next year, if it’s a bad hay year?
T: I think that Alys will take us out to the roadside and into area fields to graze.
H: But what about winter?
T: I am confident that she’ll figure out something. She really does care about us a great deal.
H: She obviously cares about you and about Raudi. She and Pete have been going riding nearly every day. I have been left behind.
T: The reason is, and it’s no fault of your own, you are hard to pony. You and Raudi both yank Pete’s arm out of his socket when you dive for grass.
H: True, true.
T: But your day will come, and soon.
H: How do you know this?
T: Because I am adept at knowing what’s obvious.
H: Oh.

Next: 196. 7/18/24: I’ve been Working on the Railroad