Lady enjoying the sun after the rain and foraging on Passion flowers and green sprouting grass. Thanks Sharon for sharing these photos with us.
Tag: 3Mules.com
Giving thanks
The Mules give thanks on this Thanksgiving Day. We thank all the people who follow our page contributing their energy and effort to this place of one human being alone, but never alone, walking with his or her animal companion peacefully and responsibly, carrying no weapons, but carrying the energy that has been created and harbored for hundreds of thousands of years by all those who have given and resided in this place understanding and knowing the absolute value of true human freedom as only it can be experienced and practiced on this earth. The Mules are happy on this day. We hope the same for you.
The Mules and a little tool that we made
A comment was made on the 3 Mules Facebook page that a video was taken showing me/Monk beating one of the mules.
We looked up the definition of the word beat: “To beat a person with a hard, heavy object such as a club, steel rod, bull whip causing physical harm.”
Pictured is a light switch we made to carry over my shoulder as we walk along the public thoroughfare.
Question as to why? Answer as to why.
When either of the two mules get close behind me not leaving a space sufficient enough to provide the degree of safety necessary should either one of them get startled and jump in any one of four directions, this switch I made is used to remind them to keep the necessary space between us, stop at intersections or step away from hazards.
Mules can be stubborn and strong willed at times. I weigh 110 lbs. Frank weighs 1400 lbs., so a little extra persuasion can be necessary at times. This tool aids in protecting the team from harm.
Bakersfield, California
We decided to go back to Bakersfield and buy horseshoes. We walked between 15 and 20 miles. It was about 4:30pm, we were going north on Allen Road and Blain stopped and asked us if we needed a place to stay for the night. We said yes, so we stayed at Blaine’s place last night. Thank you Blain for your kindness to the Mules as they travel South towards San Diego.
Upon setting out this morning, we came apon a palm tree dropping many small dates. They were quite good. The mules have feasted on this particular variety all over Southern California.
As we were walking south on Coffee Road, a Bakersfield Police Department police car went by us and circled around the corner. Not too long after that another one did the same. Shortly after that Kern County Animal Services animal control came around the corner. As we were approaching the stop light, an officer appeared in front of us.
He said, “I understand you’re trying to get rid of your animals.” I responded no I wasn’t. He said somebody said it was posted on our Facebook page that we were giving away our mules. We said goodbye. Have a nice day and continued walking.
Question: why would Bakersfield Police and animal control be bothering us about a private matter that’s not true to begin with?
November 4, 2018
This evening, the endangered San Joaquin kit fox stopped to visit us.
Organic Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
Pictured is a 25 pound sack of Bob’s Red Mill Organic Old Fashioned Rolled Oats. I switched from the standard Old-Fashioned Quaker Oats to the Bob’s Red Mill Organic Oats because I became aware of a study commissioned by Environmental Working Group (EWG) that Quaker Oats and various other varieties are laden with the chemical glyphosate, an active ingredient in Monsanto’s weed-killing pesticide Roundup, due to farmers using Roundup to spray their crops.
Last month, a California jury ordered Monsanto to pay $289 million in damages to a man dying of cancer, which he says was caused by his repeated exposure to large quantities of Roundup and other glyphosate-based weed killers while working as a school groundskeeper.
In the EWG study, Quaker Old Fashioned Oats three samples registered up to 1300 parts per billion (ppb), while little to none detected in organic rolled oats tested. To reach this maximum dose, one would only have to eat a single 60-gram serving of food with a glyphosate level of 160 ppb. The majority of samples of conventional oat products from EWG’s study exceeded 160ppb, meaning that a single serving of those products would exceed EWG’s health benchmark.
The organic oats are two to three times more in costs than non-organic, but we felt it necessary to switch because we eat 15 to 20 pounds of oatmeal a month and that is a lot of Round Up to consume into one’s body every day.
We purchased a 25 pound bag of Bob’s Red Mill Organic Old Fashioned Rolled Oats for $72.40.
However, we have since found a 25 pound bag of GrainMiller Certified Organic Regular Rolled Oats that is sold at WinCo for $27 which we purchased.
3 Mules response to the gentleman pictured
The Mules would like to see a proper place for every horsewomen/horsemen to tie their horse in every shopping center, parking lot that serves the public and the Public Thoroughfare when coming to town to conduct business in that town. The Mules and all Horsemen and horsewomen are citizens of the United States. Our rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness is guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. The right to move freely in this country how you choose, when you choose, is that Happiness.
The relationship between man, woman, and horse is hundreds of thousands of years old, if not millions. It is sacred. The passage of any code, ordinance, law or the building of the Public Thoroughfare in such a way that interferes, curtails or prevents horsemen/women from using said thoroughfare or any venues connected to it is blatantly illegal and unconstitutional. The ages old sacred relationship between mankind and horse harbors the energy accumulated from a history spanning thousands of years. The energy of this relationship works relentlessly to protect and preserve its acquired place on earth. The Mules were born from this energy and our time on earth is to serve it.
The gentleman pictured in the photo above [link to the story here] the Mules believe is saying to the Privateer who owns the parking lot, you have not provided a secure place to tie/park my horse in your parking lot, therefore I am obliged to bring my horse in the store.
The Mules
The Mules and the Sacred Act of Walking
The Mules don’t put their energy into buildings, nor do we place our energy into machines & as little as possible of our energy into man-made objects and products. Instead the most of our energy goes to the sacred act of walking and seeking and moving in harmony with the energies of the natural world. This is where we throw our chips. This is the wealth of our future.
Walk across your city, county, state, country.
Take your children in hand, sleep on the ground at night, let Earth’s energy revitalize you for the next day.
Use the public thoroughfare, public lands and public parks.
Awake in the morning, fix a simple breakfast for you and your children, set off on a journey through your town, meeting interesting and varied people along the way.
Give and receive energy from all around you. Be as you really are: a unique receiver, giver and distributor of energy that can only be done by yourself.
Create peace and freedom by the way you walk, the way you live, by the way you be.
The Mules know this that’s why we do this.
THE MULES
Meeting a mule on my Sunday drive
While driving along a country road in my automobile, we came upon a mule walking in a leisurely fashion toward us. Becoming immediately curious and disconcerted as to this unusual circumstance in which was approaching us, I stopped my automobile, got out and asked the mule what he was doing walking alone along the Public Thoroughfare.
He graciously replied that he had the same right as myself guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution, the supreme law of the land, to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness and that walking along the Public Thoroughfare in a leisurely fashion exercising his constitutional rights and his responsibility to do so as a citizen of a free country was his means of pursuing happiness.
After listening to his reply, I became angry, confused and disoriented. After all, I being a AAA-rated member of a trans-humanized robotic AI controlled Smart City (stack and pack), I was finding myself on a lonely country road, standing outside of my Smart Car, talking to a mule.
Leaving your Smart Car without prior consent from the AI is prohibited and I knew there would surely be a punishment upon my return. The energy and light surrounding this mule was so strong, I was drawn out from my Smart Car before I could realize the consequences of my actions. I had but a short time left before the Smart Car would request my reentry and return to the Smart City.
I asked the mule where he was going. He said Everywhere. I asked where was he from. He said no where. I then asked the mule where was he staying with the hidden hope I would somehow find this mule once again. His reply struck me deep and to the bone.
“We stay wherever our feet be at any moment of time. Our feet are here right now. This is where we stay until we move to the next place and the next and the next. The mules practice and live true human freedom as only it can be done on earth, a place like no other, in a way thats unique and peculiar to ourselves. We beckon you to do the same.”
I have heard freedom on Earth spoken of before, but not giving it much thought for the AI kept my mind full and not allowing room for anything else that might challenge its program. The Smart Car beckoned my reentry and my return to the Smart City. As I was ushered back in the Smart Car to the Smart City, I could think of nothing else other than meeting Frank E. Boy, the Mule, and I knew my soul would never rest until I found this mule once again wandering alone along the public thoroughfare in his own leisurely way on a Sunday afternoon showing me the absolute value of freedom and a strong connection to a strong Natural World.
The Mules and their trip to Bakersfield
So what did the Mules do in Bakersfield? Did we climb up a telephone pole with an M16 automatic assault rifle and shoot and kill motorists? NO. Did we enter a campus and shoot and kill students? NO.
The Mules entered the town of Bakersfield on foot leading our two mule animal companions Little Girl and Frank with our chins out, carrying no weapons to attack others nor for our defense. Instead, we carried the energy of our ancestors created, accumulated and harbored from living this nomadic ages old way of life. A life of love, respect and reverence for this precious one of a kind home, the Earth.
As the Mules wandered on the streets and through the neighborhoods of Bakersfield gathering supplies, we have no doubt that the energy we left in our wake made Bakersfield as well as other cities and towns in which we pass a better place to be a human being.
The above being said, it is interesting to note: The Mules were walking north on Coffee Road approaching Kern River. There was a Starbucks on our west side. We entered the parking lot, found a suitable place to secure Little Girl and Frank. Then the Monk went into Starbucks, bought a small cup of coffee, leaving room for cream, and was there for about 5 minutes. I went back to where Little Girl and Frank were secured and standing comfortably, sat down and slowly drank the coffee.
Shortly thereafter, in a prudent amount of time, a well armed security guard drove his vehicle, stopped in front of us and declared the Mules were loitering and must leave the parking lot. The Mules said no, we had bought a cup of coffee and weren’t going anywhere until we finished it and would leave in our own good time.
He said if we did not leave immediately, police would be called. The Mules continued to drink their coffee. When done, we left, never talked to any police while in Bakersfield.
The Mules will be returning to Bakersfield in 2 – 3 weeks to resupply and once again, stop at Starbucks, park the kids (mules) and buy a cup of coffee, maybe leaving room for cream, maybe not.
This parking lot, CALL-DUN-DRUM that the Mules are continually being forced to deal with must be laid out fully and all parts examined. All city, county, state roads belong to the Public Thoroughfare. When the Mules or a motorist or anybody else want to enter a store, they leave the Public Thoroughfare and enter a parking lot, park their automobile (in our case secure our mules to a fence, tree, light post) and proceed to enter the store.
Any law that allows an owner of a parking lot (privateer) to deny a citizen access to a store that provides the necessities of life, such as food, etc., must be changed, abolished. The United States is a free country with a constitution guaranteeing all its citizens the right of free movement and equal treatment and protection under the law. To allow a privateer to deny a citizen of a free country access to the necessities of life is Totalitarianism of the worst kind.
The Mules
Frank E. Boy
On June 10, 2018, we bought 10 year old, 16-hands in height Bay mule named Frank. We didn’t go look at Frank. We purchased him sight unseen and based on our conversation with the owner. We were told that he was left in a pasture for 5 years with a mare and no one working with them. We were sent some pictures, the price was right at $250, so we decided we would just role the dice and get him hauled down here. Our friends Larry and Paula from Riverdale Stables volunteered to pick up Frank in Placerville and brought him down to where we’re staying in Bakersfield.
Frank is a very friendly mule with a sweet personality. In addition to calling him Frank, we’ve nicknamed him E.Boy, short for “elephant boy”. When we go out in the morning to catch him, he’s usually hundreds of yards away, but we can spot Frank E. Boy very quickly because of his size and because he looks like a rogue elephant walking across the savannah.
Little Girl and Frank are becoming good companions. They seem to get along well and enjoy each others company. I always find them together in the pasture.
Frank has a very kind demeanor, so I don’t worry about him trying to kick. He is just resistant of having his feet worked with. Before purchasing Frank, I was told that he would stand quiet for a farrier, because that was one of our main concerns. Because the way we live traveling across the state, city to city, county to county, our mules have to be shod. They have to have shoes on them. So, we need a mule that will stand quiet, that is easy to shoe, that won’t put up a struggle.
However, upon Frank’s arrival, I attempted to pick up his feet and he would have none of it. I have been working with him for three weeks every day. We’ve got his front feet up. We get him into the horseshoers position, so we’ve made progress on his fronts, but we haven’t made very much progress on his backs. He is extremely reluctant to let us pick up his backs. He resists very strongly. But for the first time today, Frank let me lift his back foot and was able to record this progress on video. Baby steps in building trust. We’re working on him but we can’t do this forever. If he doesn’t come around in a month, we will have to sell Frank and start looking for another mule. [UPDATE: Frank has gotten use to being shoed.]
Frank also has a small bump on his rear cannon bone leg. Whether this is going to give him a problem when he starts packing weight, we won’t know till we start doing that. But right now, he moves around fine. He shows no signs of it causing him any trouble. So anyway, Frank has not been fully vetted for road duty. He may work out to be great, or he may just have to be a pet for somebody staying in their backyard, keeping the grass down, a companion for another horse, that sort of thing. The other alternate possibility is that he make somebody a great mule that will be using him without the necessity of horseshoes.
In the past three weeks, we also have been getting him use to wearing the pack boxes. It seems that he may have had previous pack experience.