Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Where Will Donkey Go?


This street is in my neighborhood very close to our home. I go along it almost every day - at the end of it, before the meadow, I have to make a right turn. Every time I drive or walk here I enjoy the view of the meadow, seeing the green grass and the trees. It's a little oasis and right here it turns up to the hill and the forested area. It's beautiful.



You might have seen it in the top photo - there is a big sign on the fence. It was installed a few weeks ago - and it's very disturbing.





The meadow is for sale. Almost 4 acres are offered up for development. A kind of development we don't know what it will look like. Will it be an apartment complex? Single family homes? Probably not for businesses as this is zoned for residential buildings.




The meadow across the street is for sale as well. Here goats used to hang out, very sweet and curious black goats. They have been gone for quite a while. Sometimes they shared the meadow with a donkey.

However, the donkey lived on the other meadow most of the time, often sharing it with the deer. He is still there, but I wonder for how long? And where will he go once the meadow is sold?


This donkey is a beloved part of the neighborhood. Young mothers with their small children visit him. I heard some elementary school girls lovingly call him Don Quixote. Kaefer and I simply call him Donkers.


He is the sweetest guy, very mellow and always comes galloping down the hill when you call him. Of course he expects some treats like apples or carrots. He also loves grapes. When he realizes that the visitors haven't brought anything but a few cuddles he lets his frustration know, loud and clear. I always know when he's angry because I can hear it in my house.

Every now and then - rather seldom - Kaefer and I feed him carrots or apples which he chews slowly and thoughtfully. Nothing can distract him from eating. I do think his teeth need a thorough cleaning.


What will happen to him? What will happen to the meadow?

We do have a huge housing crisis here. Affordable housing is more than difficult to get - but I doubt that this meadow would be a spot for affordable housing. I'm afraid it will be the location for some high end housing projects that we really don't need anymore. It will do nothing to lighten the housing problem to low income people. And I don't believe that it is zoned for apartment complexes.

We can only wait - and hope that they will build new housing, whatever it is, in a sustainable way. I hope that a good part of the trees will survive. I can't stand thinking of all the little critters who call this meadow a home right now. They, too, will need to go somewhere else. And once more, their habitat gets a little bit smaller.

This is the view of the upper part of the meadow from our bedroom window. What will we see from there in a year from now?


Since these photos show quite some fences I'm linking up to Theresa's Good Fences. I haven't done so for a long time.



14 comments:

JoZart Designs said...

It must be horrific to anticipate what could happen on this precious green space. Here, any planning application must be advertised publicly in newspapers, on the net and also be available from the city council in advance of agreement. It is easy to find out what is intended so please dig around a little and see what you can turn up. Are there any environmentalist groups to help your quest? I am on the email list of my local member of parliament so I know all that goes on in my area.
Jo x

Anonymous said...

Carola, that is worrisome and rather heartbreaking. I hate it when beautiful, natural spaces turn into more urban sprawl. I suppose we can hope that it just won't sell!

carol l mckenna said...

Oh love the donkey shots! Great nature and fence shots too ~ Beautiful!

Happy Weekend to you ~ ^_^

Aritha V. said...

The photos of your little piece of Paradise are so amazing. I hope they will build something that respects the area. I am feeling bad about it. xxx

http://momentsfrozentime.blogspot.nl/

eileeninmd said...

Hello, I love the cute donkey! I hope it is not loosing his home. Development seems to be everywhere, how many more houses are needed? Happy Thursday, enjoy your day and weekend!

LV said...

A very nice and enjoyable fence presentation.

TexWisGirl said...

oh, i know you will miss that beautiful rural oasis. such a sweet donkey.

Christine said...

Oh dear! Signs advertising lands for sale strike fear into my heart for all the reasons you state. I do hope the trees are preserved as much as possible.
Poor Donkers doesn't even get a say in the matter!

GreenComotion said...

Hi Carola,
A lovely post with lovely pictures and a fine sentiment! I am very glad you bring up this topic of affordability of housing. I don't know what people do for a living, but a lot talk about $500K like it is pen its, these days.

Somehow, I am reminded of the lyrics from Cat Stevens-'will they keep on building higher until there is no more room up there'.


Peace :)

Magic Love Crow said...

So sad!! All the land is being taken away! I can't even recognize the land around our area! I hate all the developing! Poor donkey!

Donna Heber said...

Hi Carola, thank you for stopping by my blog. I'm sorry to hear you are going to lose your beautiful meadow! I hope the donkey can find a new place in the neighborhood. He's adorable!

Ida said...

I do hope the donkey finds a new home to enjoy. It's lovely land and sad indeed to see it go.

The Cynical Sailor said...

What an adorable donkey! It's a shame that the lovely meadows are going to be sold and developed :-( If I had won Powerball yesterday, I might have bought the land and left it undeveloped so that the donkey and his friends had a place to live undisturbed.

Snowbrush said...

A similar happened here, and a lot of people got together and bought the property to save it from development. I don’t know how this worked legally, but it is now treated as parkland. Here’s their link: http://www.madisonmeadow.org/