We don’t know why they do it, nor do we understand when they do it. If you stand next to the barn on any summer afternoon here, you feel like you’re standing next to a furnace. The hotter it is, the more likely they are to do it.

It’s what we call the daily lineup.

When it was the Fabulous Four, they’d stand in the same order every afternoon, each always facing in the same direction.

Here’s the lineup from yesterday:

Those remaining from the Fabulous Four continue to be creatures of habit. Ellsworth (Happy) still stands at the north end of the barn, always facing north. And Nigel (Bashful) generally still stands at the south end of the barn, also always facing north. Bernard (Dopey) is always somewhere between, always facing south. Being a creature of habit myself, I’d be with this group if I chose to take part in the daily lineup.

These last few days, I haven’t been able to take a picture of Bernard in the lineup before he sees me and is on the move. (He’s been feeling very needy lately.)

The rest of the herd, not so much. Patrick (Doc), Gracie (Snow White) and Buck (Sneezy) aren’t particular about where they are in the lineup, or which direction they’re facing. If Don decided that he’d like to bake by the barn with the Boyz and Gracie, he’d be with this group.

September 2011 lineup: