Don't you just love it when all is right in your world? When you feel totally complete and content? Monday evening was such an experience.
The interesting thing is that Monday was my first day back at my real job since being on vacation the previous week. Usually that's not a day to feel complete and content.. but it worked out that way in the end...
It started on Saturday evening. We had 37 people over for our annual farm party. People from all facets of our life - horse friends, work friends, old friends, new friends - all came together to eat, drink, play games, chat, and be merry. As the last guest drove away and my husband and I sat in the cool night breeze, we talked about how fortunate we are to have so many friends who will take time out of their own lives, and come to our home and bring their families and share in a fun evening. It is very humbling, and we felt very rich indeed, even though our bank account is struggling.
After a few mildly stressful moments on Monday morning, I then talked with another good friend, and thoroughly enjoyed our honest, warm conversation and time together, again grateful to have such good friends in my life. The afternoon went quickly, and soon I was home again. A cool front had come through overnight, and the humidity was low for a change, it was lovely out!
After weeding the garden and picking lettuce, I looked up and the sunset was just simply spectacular. Brilliant reds and searing oranges across the sky. We sat on our porch in the soft breeze and watched the stunning colors play on the horizon, while the birds sang and our kitties twined around our legs, purring. I remember thinking, "Remember how this feels, this sense of utter completeness and happiness. Cherish this feeling, and this place, so you can come back here when the world starts spinning out of control again."
And of course the world is trying to spin out of control again.. but at least for now, I am still able to come back to these few hours.... where just absolutely everything was right in the world. And I am so grateful.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Friday, June 4, 2010
Rough Ride
Went on the most interesting trail ride yesterday about an hour south of here in a National forest. Parking only 1/2 mile or so from the interstate, the territory got very real very fast.
Remember several posts back when I talked about rain, and when we had a lot of rain, the bugs were just terrible? Well, add that to a very hot, VERY humid day, and the deer flies were just almost unimaginable.
But the area was beautiful: sandstone formations, red soil, rough and mostly unspoiled. Due to the heavy flooding that occurred here a few weeks ago, we expected the trails doing up and down to be washed out some, but I'm not sure we expected them to be as rough as they were. We were up to the challenge though!
It starts off simple enough: wide, cleared trails along the ridge then eroding to the sandstone foundations as you moved off the ridge. We quickly found it behooved us and our mounts to break off a long twig with plenty of leaves so we could almost constantly brush our horses ears, necks, sides, and hips to keep the blood-sucking flies off them. As we descended into the woods though, it slowly became cooler. We were riding to a small waterfall down at the bottom, close to the river and I had been warned the trail to it was pretty treacherous and washed out.
She wasn't kidding. The last part of the descent was at least 1/4 mile of very steep, rocky, washed out trail. It made our horses be very careful about where they put their feet, and the going was slow, as they had to stop and rest often, especially my mare who isn't in the best shape, and was also carrying a heavy rider. Did I mention the trees over the trail haven't been trimmed in some time, so the entire ride was spent ducking under and around, and even through tree limbs? That's fun when you're also heading straight downhill on a rough trail.
Finally, we get to the offshoot trail that runs along a creek. After about a 3 foot ledge drop, we are at the waterfall. It's small with a lovely pool underneath. The territory here looks very close the way Daniel Boone found it, other than the evidence of the trail itself being cleared. After resting the horses here, we made our way over another rock ledge and along the creek for quite a distance. It was so lovely and cool down here, it was easy to forget the heat and humidity a couple hundred of feet above us. This was definitely worth the treacherous trip down, although my mare, who was already soaked in sweat and tired, might have begged to differ.
After riding through the bottom of this incredible, natural creek, (while dodging tree limbs and sweeping deer flies) it was time to begin our ascent. When we got to a certain point where one fork went up more in the sun, we chose the other fork, not realizing how badly it had washed out in the flood. Through another creek and up through the lower part we went, until we reached the point where the trail had one short stretch going straighter up the hill.. and we stopped and stared. It looked like a snowboarder's half-pipe! With huge boulders and rock ledges in the bottom of it.
We let the horses the rest, and made a plan. We needed to stay up on the left side of the "pipe", on the soft slope. My partner and her horse made it up just fine, but my mare was already so tired, plus carrying me, AND she is blind on the left side.. we made it about 1/3 of the way and then she dropped down in the bottom of the pipe between ledges. Luckily, it was an easy task to go back downhill here, so we went back to the bottom, and I dismounted and led her up this part. Once I was walking it myself, barely able to keep on my own feet, I was really glad I was leading her and not riding her. We made it up through the wash just fine, panted and puffed, and rode on.
A bit further we had to work our way through a downed tree, and some very tenacious vines, and we were back up on the ridge. What a ride!!
It didn't hit me until later that this particular ride was a metaphor for life. There are some beautiful parts, some scary parts, some aggravating parts, but even with the bad stuff, the good stuff makes it so worthwhile in the end!
And I am so humbled by my QH mare, who worked sooooo hard and was so exhausted by the time we got back to the truck. I'm sure this wasn't how she had envisioned spending her day.. and yet she worked so hard, and carried me around the hills and rocks safely, just because I asked her too. What a good, good girl. Horses are such a gift....
Remember several posts back when I talked about rain, and when we had a lot of rain, the bugs were just terrible? Well, add that to a very hot, VERY humid day, and the deer flies were just almost unimaginable.
But the area was beautiful: sandstone formations, red soil, rough and mostly unspoiled. Due to the heavy flooding that occurred here a few weeks ago, we expected the trails doing up and down to be washed out some, but I'm not sure we expected them to be as rough as they were. We were up to the challenge though!
It starts off simple enough: wide, cleared trails along the ridge then eroding to the sandstone foundations as you moved off the ridge. We quickly found it behooved us and our mounts to break off a long twig with plenty of leaves so we could almost constantly brush our horses ears, necks, sides, and hips to keep the blood-sucking flies off them. As we descended into the woods though, it slowly became cooler. We were riding to a small waterfall down at the bottom, close to the river and I had been warned the trail to it was pretty treacherous and washed out.
She wasn't kidding. The last part of the descent was at least 1/4 mile of very steep, rocky, washed out trail. It made our horses be very careful about where they put their feet, and the going was slow, as they had to stop and rest often, especially my mare who isn't in the best shape, and was also carrying a heavy rider. Did I mention the trees over the trail haven't been trimmed in some time, so the entire ride was spent ducking under and around, and even through tree limbs? That's fun when you're also heading straight downhill on a rough trail.
Finally, we get to the offshoot trail that runs along a creek. After about a 3 foot ledge drop, we are at the waterfall. It's small with a lovely pool underneath. The territory here looks very close the way Daniel Boone found it, other than the evidence of the trail itself being cleared. After resting the horses here, we made our way over another rock ledge and along the creek for quite a distance. It was so lovely and cool down here, it was easy to forget the heat and humidity a couple hundred of feet above us. This was definitely worth the treacherous trip down, although my mare, who was already soaked in sweat and tired, might have begged to differ.
After riding through the bottom of this incredible, natural creek, (while dodging tree limbs and sweeping deer flies) it was time to begin our ascent. When we got to a certain point where one fork went up more in the sun, we chose the other fork, not realizing how badly it had washed out in the flood. Through another creek and up through the lower part we went, until we reached the point where the trail had one short stretch going straighter up the hill.. and we stopped and stared. It looked like a snowboarder's half-pipe! With huge boulders and rock ledges in the bottom of it.
We let the horses the rest, and made a plan. We needed to stay up on the left side of the "pipe", on the soft slope. My partner and her horse made it up just fine, but my mare was already so tired, plus carrying me, AND she is blind on the left side.. we made it about 1/3 of the way and then she dropped down in the bottom of the pipe between ledges. Luckily, it was an easy task to go back downhill here, so we went back to the bottom, and I dismounted and led her up this part. Once I was walking it myself, barely able to keep on my own feet, I was really glad I was leading her and not riding her. We made it up through the wash just fine, panted and puffed, and rode on.
A bit further we had to work our way through a downed tree, and some very tenacious vines, and we were back up on the ridge. What a ride!!
It didn't hit me until later that this particular ride was a metaphor for life. There are some beautiful parts, some scary parts, some aggravating parts, but even with the bad stuff, the good stuff makes it so worthwhile in the end!
And I am so humbled by my QH mare, who worked sooooo hard and was so exhausted by the time we got back to the truck. I'm sure this wasn't how she had envisioned spending her day.. and yet she worked so hard, and carried me around the hills and rocks safely, just because I asked her too. What a good, good girl. Horses are such a gift....
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Habits
I'm trying to get back in the habit of writing here more regularly, whether I really have anything to say or not. I've found sometimes if you just sit down and start writing, a topic just appears from beneath your fingers, it's just getting started that is hard.
I'm on vacation this week, so you would think I would have even more time and desire to sit and get a few thoughts out.. but no. I'm too TIRED! My back hurts! LOL A lot of mowing, hay moving, gardening, small jobs, and of course an adequate amount of riding. (Well, not really adequate, but more than on a working week.)
The muggies have hit our area of the Bluegrass. It was 83 and 79% humidity at 10am yesterday. Got up close to 90. This means you only get done about 1/2 of what you wanted to get done, because you are sweating so profusely. Having all this moisture in the air also means there are a lot of BUGS, UGH! This also leads one to believe that you should get out and do most of your outside work in the mornings before it gets too sauna-like out there. That makes the most sense, right?
Bearing in mind on vacation, I'm usually out of bed before 7am anyway. (Funny how on vacation, I can be ready to get up, with no alarm, shortly after sunrise, but on a work week I can barely DRAG myself out of bed only 30 min earlier, with the heinous alarm.) So you would think I could go ahead and get started with the outside work early, right?
Why no. My favorite thing to do in the mornings is to make a pot of nice coffee, and sit out on the deck with a good book, and listen to the birds sing, and enjoy my morning. Enjoying the coolness, and the mist in the air as the sun comes up over the ridge behind us. See the horses emerge from the heavy mist as they come in from the pasture for a drink of water. Listen to the mockingbird go through his repertoire, which includes a meowing cat (so good it fooled us one night into thinking we had a cat stuck in our tree), and a high pitched whinny. Watch the morning turn from pink to golden to yellow, as the heavy mist slowly burns off.
That all being said, I should still be able to get going out there by 8:30am or so... but no. Evidently, I am still in transition from my former night owl to an early bird.... it's very hard to make myself get outside and do any laborious efforts until at least 10am. When it's already miserable out. And.. it's vacation! I like to kid myself into thinking if this was my "real" life, I'd be out and about very early and late, and do my inside stuff in the heat of the day... but would I really? I'm thinking not. I'm thinking I would still be outside in the heat and humidity of the day, in soaking wet clothes, with soaking wet hair, swatting at bugs, doing all the things I need to do. Yes, it was miserable up in the hayloft at 2pm yesterday, but at least I was in the shade... (it was still miserable.)
I remember many mornings spent with my Grandmother, on her front porch, doing the same. Priceless memories listening to her describe all the sounds we were hearing, what kind of bird it was, what birdhouse that family lived in (she lived in the city, but had many large trees, with feeders and birdhouses everywhere.)She was an early riser, and as she said "went to bed with the chickens". As I age, I find my bio rhythm to be inching towards that. Being a confirmed night owl at heart though, I can't seem to actually get up and do any hard labor early, and I keep telling myself I just awaken so early now from all the aches and pains of lying in the bed all night.... but it sure is peaceful and tranquil out there in the mornings, and I also get the pleasure of honoring my Grandma's memory.
I'm on vacation this week, so you would think I would have even more time and desire to sit and get a few thoughts out.. but no. I'm too TIRED! My back hurts! LOL A lot of mowing, hay moving, gardening, small jobs, and of course an adequate amount of riding. (Well, not really adequate, but more than on a working week.)
The muggies have hit our area of the Bluegrass. It was 83 and 79% humidity at 10am yesterday. Got up close to 90. This means you only get done about 1/2 of what you wanted to get done, because you are sweating so profusely. Having all this moisture in the air also means there are a lot of BUGS, UGH! This also leads one to believe that you should get out and do most of your outside work in the mornings before it gets too sauna-like out there. That makes the most sense, right?
Bearing in mind on vacation, I'm usually out of bed before 7am anyway. (Funny how on vacation, I can be ready to get up, with no alarm, shortly after sunrise, but on a work week I can barely DRAG myself out of bed only 30 min earlier, with the heinous alarm.) So you would think I could go ahead and get started with the outside work early, right?
Why no. My favorite thing to do in the mornings is to make a pot of nice coffee, and sit out on the deck with a good book, and listen to the birds sing, and enjoy my morning. Enjoying the coolness, and the mist in the air as the sun comes up over the ridge behind us. See the horses emerge from the heavy mist as they come in from the pasture for a drink of water. Listen to the mockingbird go through his repertoire, which includes a meowing cat (so good it fooled us one night into thinking we had a cat stuck in our tree), and a high pitched whinny. Watch the morning turn from pink to golden to yellow, as the heavy mist slowly burns off.
That all being said, I should still be able to get going out there by 8:30am or so... but no. Evidently, I am still in transition from my former night owl to an early bird.... it's very hard to make myself get outside and do any laborious efforts until at least 10am. When it's already miserable out. And.. it's vacation! I like to kid myself into thinking if this was my "real" life, I'd be out and about very early and late, and do my inside stuff in the heat of the day... but would I really? I'm thinking not. I'm thinking I would still be outside in the heat and humidity of the day, in soaking wet clothes, with soaking wet hair, swatting at bugs, doing all the things I need to do. Yes, it was miserable up in the hayloft at 2pm yesterday, but at least I was in the shade... (it was still miserable.)
I remember many mornings spent with my Grandmother, on her front porch, doing the same. Priceless memories listening to her describe all the sounds we were hearing, what kind of bird it was, what birdhouse that family lived in (she lived in the city, but had many large trees, with feeders and birdhouses everywhere.)She was an early riser, and as she said "went to bed with the chickens". As I age, I find my bio rhythm to be inching towards that. Being a confirmed night owl at heart though, I can't seem to actually get up and do any hard labor early, and I keep telling myself I just awaken so early now from all the aches and pains of lying in the bed all night.... but it sure is peaceful and tranquil out there in the mornings, and I also get the pleasure of honoring my Grandma's memory.
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