It’s very unlikely that you have ever read about the existence of a mule festival. Neither have I, until I started googling and found Mule-Muli – etc. it’s a mix of a mare and a donkey stallion. You can recognize them by the larger ears.
Every great story has a final scene – like the end of a tagline which will connect you to the beginning. This is what I was looking for in my final story about “40 Festivals in 40 Weeks”. Here I am again, in the USA, this is where I started at the 40 weeks ago at the Strawberry Festival in rural Plant City.
My next festival is ahead of me; better yet it is still standing in the stable. The Mule Day Celebration in Westmoreland Tennessee. Once a year, mule owners in Westmoreland parade their animals through the town, buy and sell mules, and have some interesting contests.
Mule High jump, Mule wagon races, and mini mule shows. Throughout the entire week the mules are being honored and are the center of attention. Why? Because they are better than horses and donkeys, the mule is more even-tempered and sure-footed. They can walk up and down an 80% incline, that’s what Mike from the Reese Brother farm tells me. On the average, he has about 80 mules that he buys and sells to private owners, ranchers at the Grand Canyon who rent the mules to tourists. He also sells the mules to the American Military that ship them to Afghanistan for transportation for soldiers in the mountains.
I have fallen in love with their large ears and got used to their smell, the dogs and the people in Westmoreland. They invited me to take part in a great festival, my last one. I actually rode an electric bull.
I am sitting here on a mule wagon, watching the rear ends of mule moving up and down, and I am trying to let all sink in. Like in slow motion I remember the past 40 weeks: Fried Strawberries, clover leaves, Palm trees, Dixie, champagne, Beach, Scottish kilts, Iron Maiden, shepherds and Mule Sh…, 40 Festivals in 40 weeks. It’s over! I made it!