Postcard from Earth (8: meet Lilly)

Dear Pater,

Well, how sweet is that? The lads have clubbed together and got me a donkey.

I say "got" advisedly, because we are not talking "purchased" here. I was a bit alarmed at the thought of handling suspect goods, but as they said "OK, so we stole her from the farmer, but after all, he stole her from her mother".

Now I know logic is not my strongest point, but I felt I couldn't argue with that.

And she's ever so sweet. She is called Lilly. I was quite excited to discover that she is marked with a cross down her back and withers. I said this meant that I would always be able to find her in a herd of donkeys.

At this the lads fell about laughing. Turns out that they're all marked like that. Humph. With all the mucking out I've done you'd think that I would have noticed. Oh, well, I'm a carpenter, not a donkey herdsman or whatever such is called.

Anyway, Lilly provided a perfect backdrop for a story I was telling a crowd of people. Well, a number of people. Several. Anyway, that's not the point. They were all griping about how to get along, no dosh for clothes etc etc. I think they thought I should be able to do something about it. Fact is, me and my mates need the dosh, not them. How else are we going to fund our good works?

So, I gestured over to where she was standing and said "Consider, Lilly's in the field. She weaves not, neither does she spin, but she's got a sight better coat on her than Solomon ever had".

There was a stunned silence. And they drifted off. But I think they were dead impressed.

That's all for now,
Love to Mama.

PS - You probably don't know about Solomon. Neither do I, much, truth to tell, but he was some kind of head honcho with lots of stuff, hence my reference. Perhaps you would tell Mama about Lilly? I'm sure she'd want to know.