Listen to the wind

It's was a Friday afternoon and all was quiet.  I was shielding from the intense winds, cleaning the kitchen, preparing tonights dinner for both Keoki and I, when we decide to take a stroll even though we have to fight the elements. The elements, though, have taken on a new dimension lately, with the biting cold gone for the moment, now the dessert winds are rearing up.  My neighbors metal roof has half blown off, leaving us to adopt a new clanking song all day long in the village. The planks that hold my roof together are dangling like Christmas ornaments---maybe I should put lights up, but with these winds, electricity has been scarce. I was told the winds would come, and just as most things are predictable in Botswana, the winds came as scheduled. Every weather pattern here seems dramatic, torrents of rain, sweltering heat, biting cold, and now fierce howling winds. My oh my, it's never just 78 degrees, or just breezy, or just sprinkling, no, it's downright crazy.

But that's not why I'm writing today---on my walk, my head is down trying to avoid the wind, and was deep in thought about many things, like food.  In my periphery vision, I see Keoki chasing cows and goats to clear our path which is very typical of him. Almost 100% of the time, the animals move, or once in awhile a cow stares him down, but nothing happens, leaving Keoki to take delight in his feat. Today though, we run into a herd of donkeys who are usually so docile, usually they ignore Keoki, or they quietly move out of the way. I kind of like that he clears my path and I don't have to bother with it. But this time, a donkey starts chasing Keoki, relentlessly, and I stop to see who's gonna win this battle. Keoki is way to fast, he piroettes into the air, the donkey stops, seeing that he can't win, and probably wondering where on earth this dog learned gymnastics. But the donkey is only finished with Keoki, he starts staring me down.  I know that he won't do anything, and at that, Keoki would step in to help if need be. I start to walk, and the donkey's stare is hardening--then the thing starts charging me. No Bull--I don't know what to do, I start running away into the bush, running towards people, but he is mad that Keoki disrupted his lunch---and now I'm gonna be his lunch!  Not knowing what to do, I'm a little panicked here, and prancing around like a bull madador is not helping much--nor is Keoki helping much. I'm a dead duck--this donkey does not like me, and I don't like him very much either. It's now a matter of wills, like two athletes competing against one another for the big prize, but oh no, I feel a big hot flash coming on, why now, why in the heat of battle does menopause have to strike. The hot flash stops me dead in my tracks, for a moment my life flashes before me, and I just know I'm gonna either be dead, or worse yet, wind up in an African hospital. The God's had mercy on me though, as I stopped, the donkey stopped---he probably didn't know what to make of this, or maybe the gusts of winds were telling him something--no matter, I sure was relieved that he gave up and sauntered away.

 It was a harrowing few minutes, and for the first time during my life's changes, I'm glad that mother nature took its course.  Who knows why the donkey ceased his attack, maybe he was listening to the wind, or maybe he felt sorry for me---all I know is that my obit would've been much more exciting if it were a lion kill rather than a donkey kill.  Oh Africa!