Hay is what's up.

It just happen.  I was heading to the back yard to check on Frankie and there it was. I had no idea that it would happen. It just couldn't happen because it never happen before.  I mean there he was. Frankie was sitting there eating hay.

Frankie was eating hay.  He was EATING hay!  Hay!  Not grass but hay.  Hay as in Vitakraft Orchard Grass Soft Stemmed Grass Hay from a plastic bag from Petsmart hay.  Hay.  Dried hay.  He was eating hay.

I stood there for a moment watching him eat hay.  I wanted to be sure it was hay and that he was eating it and that it wasn't an accident.  It wasn't an accident.  Frankie was eating the hay.  Chomping the hay and then swallowing the hay and then eating some more hay.

It was hard believe what I was seeing.  Frankie has refused hay for more than 12 years.  He didn't want to eat hay.  Frankie wanted to sit on hay.

I cut up hay into small pieces, soaked hay in water, tried different brands:  Frankie was not eating it.   If I mixed chopped carrots into the hay to trick Frankie into eating the hay Frankie would pick through the hay and eat only the carrots.

Years and years I've tried.  Frankie eating hay could have solved so many problems like absent grass in the winter or no grass in a new yard and I am trying very hard to get grass to grow in his yard so I have to run out twice daily and pick grass in vacant lots, public meridians, and parks.  

So I am standing there watching Frankie eat hay.  Frankie had nearly finished the hay so I quickly ran to his cave and fetched the bag of hay.  I got back just in time as he finished the last bit of hay.  Frankie was ready for more hay.  Frankie wanted more hay!

I put down more hay while Frankie looked at me with real appreciation on his face.  This was a bit surreal as Frankie has never appreciated hay as food, ever.

Frankie has accidentally eaten hay before.  He has taken a few bites of hay in years gone by but it was just a quirk.  I hesitated to really think this was the real thing, Frankie eating hay and liking it.  Frankie eating hay could be a coincidence.  I knew I would have to wait for tomorrow.  If he ate hay two days in a row, well that would mean something.

All the next day I watched to see if Frankie was up for a repeat performance.  Frankie was all over the yard looking for bits of new grass newly.  He came begging for a carrot.  As the day pressed forward but there was no hay eating.  I was tempted to run out and pick some grass and weeds to mix in they hay but I held back hoping he would be eager for hay, just hay, at the end of the day.

So what do you think happen?  Frankie ate hay!  Again!  Late that day, Frankie just sat down in front of his pile of hay and ate it.

The first time could have been an accident and the second day could be a co-incident.   Maybe I am jumping the gun.  He could just be starving.   Maybe that particular batch of Vitakraft Orchard Hay was exceptional.  I went out and bought a whole brad new bag of Katee Orchard Grass.

I was willing to wait it out.  If Frankie eats hay a third day in a row, well then, it's not an accident or a coincident, it's a rule. 

Day Three.  Frankie ate hay!  Yea!  What luck is this?  Can I reduce the number of times I run out and pick Frankie grass?  Yes, yes I can because Frankie eats hay.  Do I need to feel anxious that the yard grass is growing slow?  No, I don't need to any more.  Frankie ate hay the next day and the next day and the next day.

Frankie eats hay.

Yesterday, after a long day of Frankie-ness, basking on the West wall, walking everywhere, dragging the old ten foot aluminum tower around, napping under the magnolia tree, pushing the blue chair off the porch, grazing the incoming new grass, walking up and down the slope, grazing the older grass, bumping the back house door checking to see if his staff is around (that would be me), dumping the water out of his kiddy pool, and basking on the East wall as the sun was creeping down the West horizon, Frankie made it back to the porch to eat a large amount of Vitakraft Orchard Hay and a cuttlebone.

I am tearing up a little here because it's a rule:  Frankie eats hay.

Frankie eating hay.