The cool breath of the wind was washing over the trees and the earth last night, a restless stirring of autumn, the world turning and changing. I walked through the dark and windy night into the warmly lamp-lit glow of the barn and saw the horses standing in their stalls. Their warm earthy smell was oddly reassuring, as they stood quietly, their gentle and patient faces steadily munching away at their comfort food, hay. They were happy. They were tucked into their stalls for the night and they had enough food to fortify them for several hours and soon would drift off into quiet dreams. There was nothing they lacked and nothing to make them afraid: total security.
In the tackroom Mugsy the cat, shut in for the night, sent his plaintive questing meow out, desperate to see me because he could hear me moving about. I went in to see him and he was pathetically clingy, throwing himself at me in urgent relief. We cuddled for a long time and I had a thorough face-licking and head-butting as his terrible loneliness gradually subsided. Finally I had to put him down and go in for the night, though it broke my heart: the poor cat was so desperate. But his brother joined him later, so he was not alone. . .