Kevin the Donkey
Kevin the Donkey
In Need of Love
One of the highlights of my holiday last year was the walks along the river Aude in Carcassonne last year. We would walk from the Rue Pont Vieux all along the river bank and then keeping the river on the left walk several kilometres with the sun burnishing our brows, or occasionally the wind whipping the rain against our waterproofs, being from Northern climes we always take these. It was always a delight. But often our walk had a purpose beyond enjoying this historic walk and the fairytale castle up on the hill at then of the walk and a nice glass of something at the end in a bar or café.
We Need to Talk about Kevin
The object was often to see how a little donkey was getting on who was caught in an open field on the far bank of the river. Friends had nicknamed him “Kevin” and everything was always, ‘How is Kevin,’ and ‘Has the horrid owner sorted him out yet? He had no shelter from the elements and was forced to stand in the great outdoors, no matter what the weather was- no waterproofs for him. Bullied All the Time Kevin was a sad donkey and he was stuck in a field with a horse and her mule daughter, which I believe is called a Hinny. Now these two females were forever ganging up on poor Kevin and he was having a thin time of it – so we took him carrot tops from the market when we can and one of us diverted the mother and daughter while the other fed Kevin the little he could manage before the ladies came over and ate it from under him. No Respite This went on for ages and Kevin got thinner and thinner and all appeals to the local equivalent of the Scottish SPCA were met with Gallic shrug and not a lot of progress. Then just as we were leaving we found out that Kevin had died as he could no longer chew properly and it was a bit of a relief for the poor little man.
Now a Donkey Masterpiece
But when I saw this delightful sculpture I was reminded of Kevin and thought I wished he had had a friend like this in the field. Anne Wall’s figurine shows two donkeys in an obvious display of friendship. It's called 'lean on me' and it is new this year. Memories of Kevin,
