I’m a year and a half old – last year at this time, it got cold and dark, and now this year at this time, it’s getting cold and dark. Last year the light came back, and the warmth of the sun came back, and then everything got green, and so I thought this darkness and cold thing was a done deal.

How wrong I was. Today I asked Tyra about this – Tyra knows just about everything and what she does not know she pretends to know. This is oddly comforting because right or wrong, an explanation of any sort goes a long way. Alys just gives me a blank look when I ask her about such things; heck, she doesn’t even know whether the sun revolves around the moon or vice-versa. And Pete, he will give you a very detailed and technical response; in fact, one that only he fully understands.

And so I asked Tyra if we were ever going to see the light of day again, and if we would ever again feel the heat of the sun. She laughed, called me a silly dog, and said “yes, of course we wil.” I then asked her how she knew this. She told me that she’s now nine years old and has lived here for seven of those nine years. And in this time, every single year, it has gotten way cold and dark, then way warm and light.

Shaddow on box

I then asked her if her information was reliable; meaning, how did she know, say, that this year might be an exception and that rather than get warmer and lighter, it just continued to get colder and darker.

Tyra said that she did not know for sure, but that she talked about this very subject with Tinni, who is now 32, and he told her that without fail, the light and heat always returned. “It is like clockwork,” he said. Tyra paused, and then added, “If you can’t trust Tinni, who can you trust?”

I felt a little less anxious after my conversation with Tyra. The horses, they do seem to be right most of the time.

Horses, they are (I am told) prey, and I (I am told) am a predator. Eat and be eaten. It explains why they are all somewhat reactive. Way fun sometimes, to leap out in front of them (particularly Raudi) and watch her startle. This is my way of keeping her on her hooves.

I would never eat horsemeat, and they all know this. And so instead, they trust that when we are out on the trail, that Ryder and I will let them know if anything is amiss. They can do whatever they please, be it continue to move forward, or do as Tinni and Raudi have done, which is do a 180 degree turn and run in the other direction. And we follow.

So, as I who am becoming a very wise dog tonight told Tyra, “Let there be light.”

Next: 354. 12/23/21: Hope?