am really going. to have to joint this neighborhood chat thing-- there are college kids there looking for odd hour jobs over the holiday.. boy could we use them.. To us,,,,
It does sound like such fun the harness up 8 little donkeys and get their antlers all tide on straight to the top of their heads and they wander around a hotel ballrooms or parades or whateve---- but let me tell you to this day if I get out the set of bells that went on the lead team of donkeys ----I guarantee you my children will run a half a mile ---their lovely cheerful bells but not when you have to listen to them all the time and my harness was absolutely beautiful ----it was better than coach leather ----it was lovely thing ( it was also $9000 from Toronto ) but it was equipped with a set of chimes bell chimes for the front pair and that noise became so offensive it was hysterical we get the whole hitch of the whole rig put together before we screwed on those damn bells t.
here were two-- n alot of.... there were a lot of lot of interesting stories with this------ we did it for years ----but the worst situation I was ever in was in Haverhill MA ---where I was to harness at the police station and then walked straight ahead down into the center of town with Santa Claus in the sleigh with me------ by the way most Santa clauses are slightly inebriated------ I had a police cruiser in front of me and we rode I drove down into the centre of town with the eight donkeys all looking cheerful and lovely and when the crowd saw Santa Claus they came running for this this bunch of donkeys ---- and they packed themselves in around and underneath the cart------ if those donkeys had taken one step forward we would have had a very nasty accident ---- but go donkeys were terrified so they stood shock still which is one reason that donkeys are absolutely wonderful compared to o horses you could never ever have done the things with horses that I have done with donkeys and that that parade in Haverhill was one of them -----because we couldn't move for the best part of an hour as these kids with oh they're all packed in between the between the donkeys in front of the under the donkeys ------under the carriage and Santa and I just sat there the added complication of Christmas with the donkeys is that those damnable candy canes -------donkeys are addicted to and absolutely adore peppermint and those candy canes that they give out at Christmas are the same size as children's fingers so I'm terrified that the donkey is going to get ahold of one of those fingers and think it's a candy cane and try bite it off this this is the problems that I live with on a daily basis -----some screwball thing after another-------this is one reason why we use frying pans around here because I'm afraid close donkeys and horses getting fingers confused with carrots and things we feed out of the frying pans -----if I don't have a frying pan what I do with a treat that I'm giving a donkey is to start rubbing it between their eyes and come straight down in their nose and poke it in their mouth so that they don't reach for the for the candy cane and get a finger of his dead at any rate we sat there in Haverhill for a long time and finally just wandered off
the second most notorious job was at the 4th floor. ballroom of the Westin hotel-We got the donkey goal hitched down in the loading docks and by peace mail shuffled them up the freight elevator till the 4th floor to the food holding area ------very closely related to the kitchen----- where we hitched them all back up in a string and i got Santa Claus in the wagon with me and made. the left turn around the red and white strawberry shortcakes into the ballroom where Santa jumped off and the crowd wandered off with him and I went straight ahead out the ballroom to. the elevator area where Janine had four of her BU students friends in waiting elevators we took two donkeys per elevator and by the time they went down the four floors their BU students had to undress the donkeys just leaving the harness on the floor so that the donkeys were totally naked Janine was down at the bottom I was coming down with the donkeys and we took those naked donkeys without a *strap on them out the front door onto ---I think it's Huntington Ave ------made a left turn and ran down with the traffic and hit the traffic lights and things straight ahead into the prudential tower parking lot where they had the freight elevator waiting for the donkeys so Janine and the eight donkeys got on the freight elevator and went up to the ballroom where there was some sort of democratic party in the bar ------she got off with the eight donks and I know what she did but any rate I went back and got the trailer -------pulled into the parking lot just to have her coming down again and put them. on the trailer came home I think it paid $4500 but it was a it took some planning to get that job done
at any rate well there's one more holida -y. actually alot more holiday stories... but,,,,
the job in North Andover outside at some industrial complex was Santa's village where they had the merry go round from Fiesta shows and a lot of hot chocolate and cookies and us santa'sw farm...we did that Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday every Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday between Thanksgiving and Christmas regardless of the weather---- there was one night where dida and I we're huddled in a shed which was supposedly the Manger scene try to stay warm. and somebody reported us to
the police as homeless.... little did they know that we were just trying to stay warm---- it was always fun and ---n o..it was not fun---- it was a job it was a job Thanksgiving to Christmas
consequently I have never done Christmas presents or worry too much about the normal things that people do at Christmas because to me Christmas was---??? have I got air the tires and ??? we got the harness ---where's the wagon is everybody healthy etc etc--- but that's behind us now
and As for the the current conversation oh dear....... I forgot about this one we did parades Oh my word we did parades luckily luckily this happened here one summer......one we had visitors here at the farm came just look at the donkeys etc And they were running around flat field everybody's fine and they all ran in the door into the arena and weenie ----one of my steadiest strongest donkeys who pulled right next to the wagon ---just keelled over dead---- I could not believe it---- it's the only time it's ever happened to me but ever since that happened I'm always very careful to make sure we have a tarp with us because you just never know with animals what's going to happen and I was very glad to get out of the business of running around hotel ballrooms before we had the added complication of anybody dropping dead in the middle of the project..
experience is what you get from bad experiences -----I don't know who said that but boy it's right
