I’ve often sung the praises of the act of reading the local newspaper. Since I’ve retired, I’ve engaged in the morning ritual of putting the kettle on the boil, walking out to the mailbox to fetch the morning paper and then leisurely reading that paper with a mug of tea. No TV. No radio. No internet. It’s a form of meditation or prayer, perhaps in the Ignatian tradition.
The following story was on the front page of my morning paper. The editors thought it was of such significance that we, the readers in the Fredericksburg area, should pay it some attention. I’m glad they made that call. Everything about this story was nourishing to my soul. I hope some of my fellow correspondents in this committee also find it as pleasing.
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Horse in a hayloft freed by Culpeper County rescue team
By Allison Brophy Champion Culpeper Star-Exponent Nov 29, 2018
Enticed by piles of fresh food, a horse on a farm near Luray this week pushed her way into a barn and trotted up the stairs to the hayloft for a prolonged breakfast. Getting “Holly”—a 12-year-old Welsh Percheron cross—down would prove much more challenging, requiring heavy equipment and the assistance of Culpeper County’s own Little Fork Volunteer Fire & Rescue Large Animal Rescue Team—the only volunteer team of its type in all of Virginia.
The four-hour rescue ended successfully, but only after careful planning and maneuvering. “It’s a challenge to rescue an animal that could possibly harm or kill you. It’s just totally different from anything else that we do,” said Little Fork Fire Chief Doug Monaco, one of four from the local company who responded to Monday’s call, about an hour away. “For us to come up on an animal that’s trapped or trapped and injured, they’re under duress, they’re not going to act like they do when they’re just standing there.”
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Read the rest of this gripping tale at the online edition of the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star. This is the kind of story that should be made into a richly illustrated children’s book. Holly of Page County could easily be as famous as Misty of Chincoteague. There are more photos and the rescue team’s own account of the day’s events on the Facebook page of the Little Fork Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company. If for nothing else, there are several photos of a fine looking little barn. I spent a lot of time in barns in my youth. That's my family barn below.
TTG
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