My little pony is leaving town

It's a sweet yet sad little horse story that brings me to blahdeblah tonight when it's already so late. One of the many things I have loved about West Seattle is that, some years ago, I happened across a miniature horse in someone's backyard, and we've been able to stop by to say hey (or maybe, in this circumstance, "hay") to him over the years. Yesterday I saw the headline "Happy Trails to Jeb" in the West Seattle Blog* which I found more than a little alarming since surely that is what is written when an animal has died.

Happily, Jeb is just moving to New Mexico and I don't think that he's moving to the southwest in the way that animals sometimes go to live on a farm in the country. At least I hope that's not the case. They've gone to some lengths to reassure locals that that is not the case, providing this elaborate story:

It's not a farm in the country.

And, because we're very community-minded in West Seattle, there's a big card that one can sign:

So true!

 Jeb is to head south tomorrow so I was happy it occurred to me that we could ride by to bid him farewell soon after we set out on this evening's ride.  There was a family attempting to have a meaningful moment, or maybe just pausing to talk near his fence, but Jeb was far more interested in his evening meal than in visiting. We hung around for a few minutes, signing his card and wishing he'd look up for even a moment. Being an obliging animal, eventually he did--briefly. Naturally I fumbled my phone (I now have my own phone capable of taking photos!) a bit, but I think it sort of adds to the wistful charm of the final encounter:

Jeb offers a final opportunity to the local papparazzi

The crowd then began to thicken so we left. West Seattle won't be the same without Jeb, but I'm thinking I'll give Mimi a week or two and then leave her a copy of City Goats. 

We continued our ride to the usual viewpoint in the Admiral District, where it took me a few tries to get the panorama setting to work, with mixed results:

I love that the street sign is for Seattle Street.

A gorgeous night, really, but I can feel already that I'm going to be just that much more sad knowing Jeb isn't only a few miles away any longer. Speaking of miles, a mileage update:

There have been some missed days and some light days but overall, not so shabby.

*The WSB is another thing I love about West Seattle; who can resist a news organization that reports on a local horse leaving town?