There are moments Strange and Apocalyptic on this Journey, when I look around and wonder where I am and how I’ve gotten here and What is Really Going On!?  I woke up this morning in the cab of a derelict semi, resting at ground level with blackberry brambles coming in the doors, at the edge of a lovely green pasture devoid of horses.  Suddenly I was very awake!  Last night I’d been in the middle of making dinner when they decided to go walkabout.  I think they suddenly realized that we hadn’t come through any gates on the way in.  (Little did they know that the sneaky humans went back later and closed several big gates.)  When I went to the machine shop to do my dishes I found them standing by the gate looking a little flummoxed and I led them back to the grassy pasture.
  

This morning I grabbed a halter and lead and went back out to that gate.  No Ponies.  I realized that there was another way around, came to the next gate, No Ponies.  I found yet another way around, this one too narrow for a vehicle and made my way out to the front gate, No Ponies.  There was a man in a truck opening the gate for the day so I explained my situation and shut the gate behind him.  Where to even start looking?  This place is a labyrinth of big trucks, parts of trucks, the remains of trucks with most of their parts removed, acres and acres and…
  

I went back to the pasture, wondering at which point to call the sheriff so at least if somebody reported two naked horses out for a jaunt they’d know who to contact.  I decided to walk down to the end of the pasture to see if I ran into a fence.  I know, I should have walked the fences before I turned them loose, but I’d been assured by the owner, who’d had cows in here previously, that they couldn’t get out – and trust and exhaustion got the better of me.  I discovered a passageway over the creek to another pasture and found two happy ponies looking at me like, “What’s all the fuss and bother?”

So I heaved a sigh of relief, returned to my strange nest, fired up my camp stove and had a mug of mocha.  The ponies are safe, the weather is beautiful, I have found yet another strange haven and last night I took a borrowed truck to Walmart and returned with fresh strawberries and Stonyfield Organic yogurt for my breakfast.  Moments of sweetness…