When I was in junior and senior high school, not only did I care for my own horses, but our neighbors down the road paid me to check their horses each day and feed them. There were two Quarter Horses, sisters named Sycamore Lass and Scojeadon (I have models named after both of them), and there was also a burro named Jose.
The only photos I have of him are of poor quality with the color fading.
Jose was brown with black points and a mealy muzzle, and he was a very naughty, mischievous boy. He never bit or kicked, but he was difficult to catch and quite sassy. In other words, Jose acted just like a donkey!
It's Christmas Eve, and I always think of him on this day. The connection of donkeys to the Nativity story never fails to bring him to mind.
I wonder about the donkey that Mary rode. Was he or she anything like Jose and other donkeys? Or did it have some inkling of the importance of the role it was playing for this family?
I don't know the answer to those questions, but at Christmas time I like to think about donkeys and their contribution to the Christmas story. And, I always smile as I remember Jose.
