And this is my brain on horses
So, it's like a medical condition. A fever. (And the only cure is more cow bell...no, no, no. Not that fever.)There I was after work yesterday, watching the sky cloud up, when I started to get the twitch. That jonesing for my horses twitch. Mark is learning to recognize it and he usually shoos me out to the barn when he sees it. He knew that the rain was nearly a non-issue. I wanted to see my horses.
My plan was to just saddle somebody up, hop on and see how far I could get before it started really raining. I thought, even if it was half an hour, 45 minutes, it would be something.
I ended up haltering Admiral for no other reason than he was making that face he makes with his eyes all concerned (I know. Medical condition...remember that) and cute. Of course it started sprinkling as soon as we got to the hitching post. Didn't matter. Full steam ahead. And then...
Aggie arrived home with her girlfriend and they wanted to take a ride. And since there's no way I was letting them go by themselves that meant Sam and I were the pony ride wranglers.
I couldn't say No. What kind of Karma could I expect to reap if I denied a 10 year old girl the opportunity to ride a horse when I was that 10 year old girl a few (cough) years ago. I would've walked through fire for that chance. Plus, I'm happy to see Aggie take an interest in the horses, too.
So, horses saddled up, Sam and I took the lead ropes and started walking around. Soon we were inside the pasture gate, somehow crossing the creek, somehow headed up into the woods, and it eventually snowballed into a full fledged trail ride. Something I don't recommend on foot in cowboy boots. I had mega-blisters by the time we got home. In the rain.
But the girls had a blast, and I really think the horses actually had fun. Aggie's friend is sooo sweet and her family is so great and she's moving halfway across the country, which breaks my heart. Why do the good ones have to move?
The only downside? Now I was doubly crazy for having not ridden. Plan B: Sanity Jog through the woods.
It's my second choice of restorative outdoor activities.
I didn't care that I had juicy blisters on my feet or that it was truly raining by that point. I headed up into the woods and tried to get lost.
The trees can be so thick in spots that the rain never made it to the ground. Brushing through wet leaves, slip sliding in muddy creek bottoms, climbing near vertical paths, prehistoric looking plants with leaves as big as my torso, rain tapping out a tune, a whiff of a skunk, old rectangular foundation stones set up like little Stonehenges, and the green. How I love all that green.
Whenever I'm faced with two diverging paths I'm always torn. I feel this tremendous pressure to pick the right one because I know one of them is going to have something really cool down it. I just know it. And I don't want to pick the wrong one. Nevermind that I've probably been on most of them and they all have something cool on them...
So one of the last navigational choices on my journey last night I chose correctly. I came upon a group of 7 deer feeding and I was able to stalk quite closely for a long time. Two decent little bucks in velvet were closest. When they finally noticed me and ran off, I chased them through the woods not caring that it was totally impossible to catch them.
Darkness told me to get my butt home. I always have to force myself out of the woods against some gravitational pull. Just one more path. I just want to see one more thing. I wonder what's over there.
When I finally made it back into the pasture fields the daisies were phosphorescent in the gloaming. And yes, it was especially the gloaming, what with the rain. Because 'gloaming' makes me think of 'gloomy' makes me think of 'rainy.' Even though that's not the case. (Another favorite word: gloaming.)
And this horse crazy brat was feeling a little better.
5 comments:
How sad that Aggie's friend is moving away. I hate when that happens. Nice that you sacrificed your ride to give the girls that wonderful memory.
I used to have a poster like that in 8th grade that I loved and still miss. . . I don't ride any more but miss it a lot.
lol! the beginning of this post was just so hilarious! love that unicorn! lol :D
i'm pretty sure i had a poster like this too at one point...
Hello Sara~ I'm sorry you didn't get to ride your horse but I'm sure you put a big smile on Aggie's friend's face. Your reward was having the opportunity to see those deer. How cool is that? I would have loved to been there with you when you seen them. Hope all is well.
You are making me itch to ride. I need a horse first, though. I was around Aggie's age when I got my first horse, Quincy. He was an Arabian and we had so much fun thru the years.
Chasing the deer made me think you were a bit vegetarian vampire.
Love the word gloaming!
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