Day 5.
Really and truly, no words are needed.
Donkeys are just special.
Besides, Petunia is the real star of this show if you ask her.
Today, in between work tasks, I am baking pumpkin bread, cleaning the trailer, riding Chance, and enjoying watching Merley Bob bound and play.
Have a blessed Monday before Christmas. It is a blessed, new day!
Walk in love, dear readers. Take a breath and give a smile. You are here and alive!
See you tomorrow on day 6!
“Have you stopped blogging?”
The question came from a long time family friend. She has watched me and my two sisters grow up over the years.
She saw me run wild as a little person with equally wild hair in a fuchsia pink jump suit with a trim around the collar and cuffs of jingling jewels. With matching socks to boot (thanks, mom! Perfect fishing gear I dare say). Likely with some kind of high-top sneakers. She also watched me nap on the couch in that get up, probably smeared with fish slime and scales. There is photo evidence in south Texas where a piece of my heart resides. At least of the napping. No, I did not get a copy of that to share, although I think I should have.
She has also watched us learn how to fish over the years. Watched us do stupid things too I am sure. I remember one specific trip where we were catching fish after fish off the dock when we were not out on the boat. We would run upstairs, with the poor innocent fish dangling from the hook and dripping salt water on the ground, to excitedly swing the doors of the clean and cool clubhouse open and ask Pops what kind of fish it was. We would then run back downstairs, with the fish still there dangling and dripping decidedly less salt water on the ground, to return the poor creature to its home. I remember catching many new to me species that trip.
But, no, I have not stopped blogging. I have just been, I guess, taking a break.
The truth is, I have not had the right frame of mind to write. I have hated it. I have several pieces of blogs started. Several ‘stream of consciousness-es’ written down. It is like a symptom of the year 2020, for more than just myself. Everyone I speak to seems to feel the same. I just have had a hard time finding anything to say that seemed meaningful and additive with everything that has been going on in the world. It has felt important to be and live in the moment. Be more than present.
Anyway, I have missed you my dear readers and I have gathered up a stream of consciousness AHAmoments blabber covering the last quarter of 2020 just for you. Lucky you! Or, probably more accurately, a bunch of stories that should likely be their own posts, but alas…We have not spoken in a long time!
I feel like I am playing Pollyanna’s game right now with this. I am watching Pollyanna right this very minute. I am not lying. I can not make this stuff up. As you will read here in a minute it is flooding outside and I am watching Pollyanna. And I just so happen to be subconsciously playing her game! Gotta chuckle at that one.
Life in or out of 2020 will deal you some interesting cards combined with the curve balls, but it is up to us to see the positive and the light while continuing to play those cards! So, starting with the first curve ball…
Life is interesting. I can say that until I am blue in the face. And I have. Those that have been around here a while have heard me say that many times. We will all find ourselves experiencing the same things at one point or another. That is something to remember. The AHAmoment in it all. We are all more alike than any of us know and are all living in this same life. And there is good that comes out of it all. Now and at the end of the day.
You will lose your job (blessedly!) and you will find yourself landing in another, much happier space. Where you are appreciated and valued. Doing good work. That was at the beginning of July.
Life, especially the year 2020 chapter (did I not already write this blog post?!?), often can feel like one thing after another. One bad thing after another bad thing. When one door closes, indeed many things open if your eyes are open to seeing.
The question our dear family friend asked me came at the beginning of a much needed fishing trip at one of my favorite places with my parents and it made me a little sad when it hit me. It was a longing sadness, like that you have for a long lost friend.
That was at the end of July. We had a great trip with soul striking sunrises/sunsets, casting, fish catching/releasing/eating, boating with the dolphins, and even a beach trip, but we had to cut it short by more than a day to quite literally out run the incoming Hurricane Hanna.
We awoke early and were on the road in the dark before 6 AM. It is a good thing we did. It rained most of the drive back to the farm. We walked in the door and got everything unloaded before the next bands of rain came. As we watched from the safety of the indoors, we were blessed with one of the most amazing things I have ever seen.
A complete rainbow. With both ends planted and rooted right there on our farm. Can you even imagine that? Have you ever seen a complete rainbow where you could see both ends intersect the ground? I could have gone to both ends out there in the rain!
Even more interesting and amazing? How many times can I write amazing in one sitting?! WE SAW THE EXACT SAME RAINBOW A FEW WEEKS LATER!
If that is not a sign, I do not know what one is.
You will rebuild your fences finally after all the floods and trees will fall down on them.
That was in August. An outer tail band of Hurricane Laura swept seemingly unceremoniously over us. I swear it was just one quick blow. We had no other weather!
Goodbye pretty fence. It was nice having your around. You have now joined the ranks of all the other seasoned fences.
You will clean it up (when it finally cools down), have firewood for the winter, and rebuild the fence again. Hopefully you will do it quicker than the last time.
Your best mare will injure herself somehow, on her own, in the season she gets off to be a pasture fluff. My blessed girl got a slight tare in her right front check ligament. Which is only half the story because she has a mystery lameness on the left front.
That is all I can say about this at the moment. It makes me kind of sick at the moment. She will heal with time.
The ligament looked good her her recheck.
Every storm is not going to be destructive. Remember the rain is necessary for growth. It is currently raining and flooding outside, go figure 2020. How many beers and microphones do you have in your Mary Poppins carpet bag? Well, we needed the rain.
When the water goes down, which it will as it always does, it will be lovely. The start of a good fall with good grass. We can finally feel fall coming here in Texas. And oh boy, I could not be more ready for fall and everything it entails. As everyone is aware, this year is unlike any other year that I can remember in my short life, and there was no leading into fall this year. No time to get ready. That is OK! It is here with all of its wonder and glory!
Even still, with all of this, that, and the other, the wonders of this world and this life never seem to cease. You will give a gift to a beautiful soul who shows you without any question how much that gift is appreciated.
For a person like myself, there are not many things sweeter that that.
In truth, this gift was slightly self serving. I wanted it for myself as well. To complete the farm spa experience.
Just imagine being in the heat of this Texas summer. You are…gleaming! Yes, gleaming, from a magical ride on your fairy tail horse in the bright, humid, sticky, steamy, and leaning towards suffocating air blooming out of the mid morning.
Your skin is primed for the next treatment of dirt and cut grass from mowing until it is too hot to do anything else. Now you are even hotter, stickier, beyond thirsty, and your eyes are puffy and watering from the mowing. Perfect timing and conditions for the final treatment.
This is how hot. Sweat on your eyelids hot.
In the pool you go with an umbrella cocktail! With or without a Merle dog (he apparently prefers to have the pool to himself)! The height of luxury. You have no idea how good it feels. It is like nothing else in the world.
And here we are. Do you feel a change in the air? Like more than just a change in the season?? Is it just me willing a change for 2020 into existence? Either way, all of this will soon be behind us!
Do not isolate yourself! Reach out in any way you can! It is good for your soul.
Lito and I got out and had a ride with friends. Oh how we have missed that. We have another outing planned for October. It may not be our normal October adventure, but we are just as excited for it.
Walk in love, dear readers!
P.S. Look how grown up this boy is! And, he apparently still has his mohawk!
It is Tune Tuesday today.
I can not skip it. You have to hear this and soak it in.
It made me smile.
So, take a load off for four minutes and thirty six seconds. A less than five minute break. Yes, I realize it is not even nine in the morning. Shh. Get another cup of coffee or treat yourself to a tea with lemon.
I’m going down on the Nueces River
Gonna call my brother, ask him to meet me there
On the surface will be two men fishing
Down below we are brothers with a love to share
I’m gonna lay my burdens down now
Gonna ask the Lord to watch them a while
I’m gonna walk where the sun is shining
I’ll be home when I have found a smile
There is a salt cedar tree that I know of
It can take a breeze and make a melody
I’m gonna climb up in those branches
And ask if it would whisper its secrets to me
I’m gonna lay my burdens down now
Gonna ask the Lord to watch them a while
I’m gonna walk where the sun is shining
I’ll be home when I have found a smile
There’ll come a time when the world is level
There was a time when the mountains grew
Then there is all that is here in the middle
And how it’s spent is up to me and up to you
I’m gonna lay my burdens down now
Gonna ask the Lord to watch them a while
I’m gonna walk where the sun is shining
I’ll be home when I have found a smile
~Max Stalling
Are you smiling?
Walk in love, dear readers, where the sun is shining.
Yes, 2020, you have been a gem so far.
I can not help it with these memes, sorry, I am not sorry. They are just so apt.
Really though, at this point, I want to scratch out ‘2020’ in that first one and put in its place, ‘The Whole Of The Past Twelve Months.’
Well actually, ‘The Whole Of The Past Twelve Months And One Day.’
A year ago yesterday was one of the worst days of my life. I had to make that terrible awful decision and actually act on it. My life has not been the same since and I do not think it will ever be the same again, and not just because of that fateful day.
“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." - Anatole France
I miss everything about her and us. The words will not even come now, a whole year and a day later. That fateful day I had no choice. None.
That day I had to set my Darcy Girl free from her pain of this earthly realm. There was absolutely nothing else I could do. I had to do it for her. She was not even six years old. That is one of the hardest parts I think. We were supposed to have so much more time.
I have been doing a lot of thinking over the last year and a day (and not so much writing). It has been quite a year and it went by in a flash, but lot has happened.
That thing there I mentioned earlier. Choices. Yes, that one. We take that right and privilege for granted. That is one thing I know. Choices and time, that is what I have been thinking a lot about.
A little after Darcy’s day, before traveling all over kingdom come of this country over the summer (hey, I rode horses, caught fish, and got a Merle pup!), I blathered on here on AHAmoments about how life is about saying yes. Not just yes, but YES. Remember that? No? It does not matter, it seems silly in retrospect, but I did. I went on about saying yes to things and people and living what is left of your life because it is a gift that can be taken away at any moment. You know, beyond our control, out of our hands, not our choice.
Not long before Darcy’s day, I made a big bet (completely unrelated to Darcy) that had a very big chance of not working out.
An incredibly long story short, that bet did indeed turn out to be a losing bet. I was lied to and cheated on. Deceived. Taken advantage of and disrespected. My time was wasted. I got severely disappointed (hey, still kinda am). Mad. Angry. Sad. Mad at myself as well.
But you want to know what? Yes, I know you do. I have no regrets. I still believe those things about a yes life that I mentioned even still. That is the only way to live a life. It is too short not to. There are more important things than all that other stuff. I would not have a Merle pup or a Lito man if I did not believe these things. Where would I be without those two!? Or my Cheetah!? Even with Darcy. What if I did not get her when I did? Who would I be and where would I be without having had her in my life???
"No philosophers so thoroughly comprehend us as dogs and horses."~Herman Melville
The truth is, just like this very life itself, none of it is on our time frames. That is for the Man Upstairs. AHAmoment and do not you forget it.
You see, I indeed did make that choice. Or choices, rather. Nobody else. That is on me. The choice to bet on a person knowing it had a high chance of not working out. If I am being honest, I even felt it deep inside in that hidden place, despite all the words, that it was not going to work out (hey there, gut feeling Holy Spirit, sorry I did not listen you. I am still learning.). I did not listen to it, I wanted it to be different. The way the words (not actions) sounded. It was supposed to be great. You do not win if you do not bid, right? That is what they say. I trusted and said yes. It was my choice. I believed and fought for it.
Here is the thing. I can make another choice right here in the story. And I have. I vowed to myself to continue to say yes and be open in life and opportunities and adventures and, yes, people. To live life in the front row. To learn and be better. Like I said then, I will say it now, I have lived a third of a lifetime (if I am blessed enough to live to old age). I have zero desire to waste any of it, or any more of it.
I have learned and am still learning from my past and all the life that I have lived over 31.5 years. That is what is making me smarter and wiser, so long as I listen to my gut feeling. Learning what He needs me to for His purpose. You have to ‘watch their actions,’ as a wise women told me. Not the words. Believe what you see and what is shown to you. Make the choice to learn it and leave it.
Do not take your time or choices for granted.
Life is still going on all around us whether or not we are going with it. The choice is yours no matter the situation, do not waste it. You can get wrapped up in all the rest if you want. Get mad and angry. I did for a little bit. Then step forward and on. Forward is always the answer, just like with horses. Leg on.
All of that to say, that, even with all of that, the storms we go through (and we all do go through storms), they do not last. For anyone. We have so many rainbows. So many silver linings. So much wonder and light. So many blessings. That is right, WE. All of us. There is a reason for all of it, a greater purpose. We are learning through the journey to that purpose.
Like I said, I would not have Merle for not that awful day a year and a day ago.
Onward and upwards, my friends.
Learn from yesterday, live for today, and tomorrow is a new, blessed day! Go be your best self and be good to people.
Walk in love, dear readers, I hope these images of my loves brighten your 2020. Or Last Twelve Months And One Day.
Anyone still there? Tap. Tap tap.
Look! The pecans are coming! It is all in the natural way of things.
The ‘Have You Ever’ version. I saw this posted somewhere in that big wide world of social media and I thought it was fun and wanted to bring it here! I did something similar a while back in a thirty questions version (Did you miss that? Check it out here and here!).
In the interest of being open since it is a ‘new’ year and letting you get to know me a little better! Join in if you wish by answering and/or asking! It’ll be fun!
Have you ever….
Been arrested? – No! Good heavens. However, I have bailed someone out before.
Been married? – Nope.
Been divorced? – No. See answer above.
Fallen in love? – Yup, I sure have.
Had your heart broken? – Yes, in more ways than one.
Skipped school? – Yes, but I did not do it until I was in college. Even then I only did it a few times. It was mostly horse related. I know you are surprised.
Watched someone give birth? – Not a human! I have been very close to when a human gave birth. My oldest sister, A!
Watched someone die? – Yes, but not a person.
Been to Canada? – No, but I have always wanted to! Especially Alberta and British Colombia.
Ridden in An Ambulance? – Yes. They made me when I had to evict my appendix forcibly from my body when I was 25. Martin Luther King Day. Rather rude way to spend a day off.
Been to Hawaii? – Yes! Once many years ago. My Pops‘ brother, lovely wife, and one of my cousins (my uncle’s youngest) live there. It is high on my list to go again now that I know what it is really like. Aunt M (Pops’ sister) is going to visit at the end of this month and I seriously considered buying a last minute ticket to tag along. Unfortunately, work spoiled that plan.
Been to Europe? – Yes! Once and by myself! That was exciting! If you missed the adventure…You can read all about it here!: Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5. That is a lot of parts! Well, I was there for two weeks and there was a lot to cover! Horses and country and food and wine! I still dream about the best ride and the best dinner. I use those spices I bought often and am thinking about ordering more online.
Been to Washington D.C.? – No. And I am still upset about it. I remember it. My Mother took my older two sisters to D. C. and left me and Pops behind. I remember throwing a fit about it and Mamma told me I was too young for all the walking. I did not believe it then and I still do not now! I don’t remember how old I was other than that I was in elementary school.
Visited Florida? – Does the Miami airport count? I was on my way to the Dominican Republic. It was interesting.
Seen the Grand Canyon? – No. Many find that odd given my profession. I kinda sorta agree! It is on the list.
Flown in a helicopter? – No, but I want to! I wish I had one on most week days. Too much traffic in this dang city.
Been on a cruise? – No, and I am not so sure I want to.
Served on a jury? – No, but I have been close!
Been in a movie – …for school!
Danced in the rain – Heck to the yes! Many times. More than I can count. That is what life is about! What IT is about!
Been to Los Angeles – No.
Been to New York City? – Yes to visit my best friend from high school on Memorial Day Weekend. I had such a great time. I thought I would not care for it that much. I did not even get to catch a show. Sounds like I need to go back!
Played/Sang in a band – No, but I dream about it! When I am in my car. Alone. With the volume turned way up! …so I can not actually hear myself sing!
Laughed so much you cried – Of course! Many, many, many times! Indeed, this too is what life is about. Most distinctly that I remember, I did it on our ride back in October. So many times in fact that I lost count.
Caught snowflake on your tongue – Yes. I have also watched horses stare up into the sky at falling snow. I was blessed enough to watch Darcy play in the snow her first and only time. I still can not look at those photos. You can go look at them.
Had children? – Nope, but I pray I am blessed to be able to one day.
Had a pet(s)? – Ha! Yes!
Been sledding on a big hill? – I do not think so. I think Mamma got wise to that with the first two. And well…we live relatively flat and snow free.
Been downhill skiing? – Yes. Once. I do not remember being too terribly good at it, but then again, I was young. We are more of mountains in summer type people anyhow.
Ridden on a motorcycle? – Yes, with the adult neighbor of a childhood friend when I was in elementary school. I remember thinking at the moment that my mother might not be too happy about this.
Traveled to all 50 states? – No, but that sure would be cool! I have been to a few. You can read about my most recent new multi state visit here!
Been to a drive-in movie? – Yes. In college. I do not even remember what it was, but I do remember that my high school best friend was in town for a visit.
Ridden an elephant? – No, I have never ridden an elephant, but I really want to!
Ridden a horse? – Ha! Hahaha. Yes, I have ridden quite a few horses!
Been on TV? – I do not think so? I have been (well, my back has) on a photo ad for my university without knowing it.
Been in the newspaper? – I do not think so.
Stayed in the Hospital? – Yes. The aforementioned, blessed appendix! Good riddance!
Donated blood? – No. If I did not hyperventilate every time I had an I.V. I would.
Gotten a piercing? – My ears, but not till I was in college. People think that is strange. I suppose it is. Now that they are pierced, I am rarely without earrings.
Gotten a tattoo? – No, but I have thought about it. This might be surprising to you. It is kinda surprising to me to be honest. Like I will never do it, but…
Driven a stick shift vehicle? – Yes, but not very well.
Been scuba diving? – No. Kinda scares me.
Been snorkeling? – Yes. In Hawaii and maybe the Dominican Republic. I can not remember.
Gotten a speeding ticket? – …yes…Until not that long ago I would have proudly said only one many years ago! Well, I can not say that now…
Gotten stitches? – …APPENDIX…Although, really there were not all that many.
Traveled Alone? – Yes! Read above about my adventure in France! I highly recommend the practice every now and then.
Join in on the fun!
Walk in love, dear readers!
Do you feel it?
You know it. What I am talking about.
The feeling in the air.
The days are getting shorter.
Fall is here. Or. At least coming to these parts!
To celebrate, I will share with you the ultimate fall song. Remember this one?
It is October! And I felt it in the air this morning while taking Merle out.
Well, actually, I have been feeling it in the air for a few days now and it has been just slightly, ever so slightly clicking up. Not just because we have now hit October 1st. You can only really feel it at dawn and dusk and if you try hard, throughout the morning. That soft, drier air. It has a different feel. A different smell. It makes me giddy inside. Just downright giddy, I tell you. For the change in more than just temperatures. For freshness. For the setup of the reason for THE season. The reflections of the past seasons and the ones to come. You know how I get this time of year.
I have been out of the state for work for a few days drilling a well. With how busy and ‘full’ life has been the last few months, I was not looking forward to having to be away from home and my Merle. As it happens, like it always does, my eyes were opened while I was away. I was driving myself to dinner after my sift was over one night when I was caught in awe.
I was headed into the sunset down an old, old road that had been long cut through the tall pine trees of the rich timber country. I first noticed the way the light was forming the sunset and the time of day. It made me realize how the days have been getting shorter and the sunsets earlier, and earlier. Then I noticed the ever glow of the golden color of the rays. They were clear rays that bounced off of everything they touched, illuminating anything in contact, but at the same time, my eyes could not tell the difference from one to the other. How they shone between the trunks and the long shadows they created. The rays were seemingly suspended there, caught in that moment and time. Still. I like to think of them being captivated, much like I was. Rewarding me for seeing them. There was promise held in that golden light suspended in those trees.
The camera could not see what I was seeing.
It made me even more excited for fall and what is to come.
My cousin and I have already done an ‘all the fall things’ cooking session. She made a pumpkin chili and I made a pumpkin toffee dump cake. Um. GOOD. We have even picked more things to make for another fall evening and I can not wait. The date is not even on the books yet. Nothing gets me more excited for this time of year.
Sister K texted me yesterday reminding me that tomorrow (meaning today) was October 1st. Which really only means one thing. That we can start playing Christmas music. I know, I know, settle down. We will only play it for ourselves and BIL T, don’t worry. She is married to him so he has to listen (joking!). I promise to not share any Christmas music here until December.
There is another thing about this time of year. The thing that makes me the absolute giddiest of all giddy. If you have been around here for a little while you might be able to guess. It is something that happens for a week every October. A week that I live for. Now that my work commitments are complete (and I can feel myself breathe again) and we are in this fine fall month of October, I am thinking of nothing else.
Walk in love, dear readers, and do enjoy this fall! Embrace the change and allow it to happen like the change of the seasons.
You know what it is going to be? Alright. Everything is going to be alright.
I used to hate it when sister K would say that. Mostly because she would say, “you know what it is going to be?! Fine.” Something about that ‘fine’ word would just…stick…stick in my craw, you know? Still does as a matter of fact.
Maybe you don’t know what I mean, but I do. Trust me.
Do you need to hear that everything is going to be alright right now? I have been, so I am going to tell you. I know I am not alone and neither are you!
Let me tell you how and why I know everything is going to be alright.
I could go on and on with a multitude of reasons, but I will just limit it to the reasons my eyes have been shown as of late.
So today (it would be today, such a Monday thing to do), pretty much just now, I started some laundry. Do you feel the bad omen? One of my sets of bed sheets if you must know. Also if you must know, they have been sitting on my bedroom floor acting as a play mat for Merle covered in toys (his doing, not mine) waiting to be washed for a week (some good adulting right there, let me tell you), but let us not speak of that.
Back to the story. Said sheets are now in the machine. We, Merle and I, are going about our business about to go on a walk when I walk in to the kitchen (that is where my washing machines live) and I see suds streaming down the face of the washer onto the tile floor. I told you there was a bad omen. Apparently I got overzealous with the soap. Admittedly, this is not the first time this has happened.
I curse myself for not being more careful AGAIN and stomp off to the front door with Merle confused (after trying to lick up the aforementioned soap suds) and running after me. We left the sorted mess to be dealt with later. After our walk and after I run an extra rinse cycle.
I opened the door and it was hot and humid and so very muggy. I roll my eyes and just start walking. Eventually at some point down the street I looked up and saw a beautiful rainbow. Not bold and distinct and in your face like you might think, but subtle and quiet and soft, just like its message (hardy har har). A, “hey, you, yes you. Open your eyes and see. Forget about all that other stuff and see all your blessings.”
I could not help but smile. Then I started to notice the after rain blue sky. The green green grass as a result of all these rains. The beauty in the aftermath.
I took a deep breath and knew it was all alright.
Every day I come home to this (as in that. That puppy up there with the toys) little orange and white puppy named Merle. This little Merle just explodes with unconditional love the second he sees me. A kind of love us mere humans can barely fathom or even hope to express. His tail wags so fast I can not even see it. He has his own smile and language. He tries so hard not to use his teeth on me because he knows he is not supposed to, even though he still does sometimes. I love this little pup and he makes my heart smile even if I still shed tears at the slight passing thought of my Darcy girl.
I stumbled upon these pictures of her the other day and just could not keep it together.
I got angry and down right mad to be honest. Then that little mighty Merle came and plopped himself in my lap and looked up at me with those dark, soulful eyes as deep as the biggest ocean while he pressed his body and head against me. Just like Darcy would sometimes do.
I knew in that moment Merle was meant to be mine at this time and that everything was going to be alright.
Even if I am not over Darcy (which. I do not think I ever really will fully be). Even if Merle is a slower learner. Even if he is worlds beyond smarter than me. Even if he is into and chewing everything. He is a puppy and that is what they do! And you want to know what? He loves my travel bag, just like Darcy. And he loves to sleep on my feet, just like Darcy.
He lets me know everything is going to be alright.
Two weekends ago Lito and I went to ride with friends. I woke up early to feed, load, and hit the road not too long after sunrise to beat the coming heat. We were greeted with a full moon and a clear, starry sky. There was a slight ‘chill’ in the air. I could see the fog not too long off down the valley and the way it reflected the moonlight. I could see the long moonlit shadows of the pecan and oak trees. I could smell the distant aroma of the previous night’s cooking fire.
The sights and smells stirred up a lot of feelings and emotions. Excitement for the day to come with my boy. Joy and anticipation in the change of seasons. The end of summer and the beginning of fall. The excitement and promise of the future and things to come. The small feelings of that moment and how they reflect the bigger picture of life.
I knew in that moment, walking to the barn to feed with Merle at my feet that everything was going to be alright.
Then there is this guy. This guy right here. I am not sure I can even find the words to express the feelings and emotions and I do not even know what. The gratitude and the love. The pride.
I have written some about our struggles over the last year and a half. The difficulties and set backs and trials. The ‘phase’ my Lito has been in. I just stopped writing about it after a while, just trying to give it time to play out and for him to come around. Giving him his time and not putting more energy into the situation. And because honestly, I did not understand it. I raised this horse. He was a consummate professional from the minute he was born until this whole thing started. It was not ‘supposed’ to be like this.
I do not think understanding it is the point. I think the point was and is to let it go (go figure that one there!). To just accept him where he is and the situation and let it be. Give him his time and work through it and allow our relationship to be better than it was before. And I really think it is. I am not going to say we are completely over it, but man oh man, we have come so far. And getting even better every day.
Just being in his presence lets me know everything is going to be alright.
That is a lot of words for tonight, especially after my prolonged silence. I suppose that is the natural way of things! There has been a lot going on and yet, at the same time, not much going on.
I know I have already said thank you, but I really do appreciate y’all. More than anything, I want each and every one of y’all to know everything is going to be alright. This I know.
Sometimes life just is not fair and we do not understand it. Stuff happens. Or does not happen. No matter what, everything is going to be alright. AHAmoment. Trust me. Take a very deep breath and hold it. Have faith. Pause. Have faith. Then slowly, very slowly let it out. Have faith. Being completely aware of every molecule and how your body reacts. Have faith. Where those molecules go. Have faith. Rinse and repeat.
Then see and count your blessings. Blessing number one is the fact that you are awake and breathing. Open your eyes and see and feel the rest. There are so many.
Everything is going to be alright.
Tell me, how do you know everything is going to be alright?
Walk in love, dear readers.
What day is it today?
You guessed it.
It is Tuesday. Tune Tuesday.
Do you know what that means? It is time for another Merle song.
OK, so maybe you do not know what that means outside of the fact that I am a crazy Merle Haggard fan.
You just do not know YET. Y’all will know here soon though! In just a few days.
You just have to keep checking back here!
Walk in love, dear readers!
You know what? It is hard to get off mountain time twice in one month.
Ha!
What a statement! Can you believe I can say that? I certainly can not complain about it one bit.
This summer has been so great and it is not even over yet.
The thing is, I was too busy being in the moment, breathing in the mountain air, and enjoying just being in the mountains that I did not take very many pictures.
However, we went on a little hike after an attempt at yoga on the mountain and saw this sweet, little big view.
There was a lot of stunning storm watching. You know how I feel about storms.
There was a lot of marveling at God’s creation. How can a person not in a place like this?
We went on a bike ride to eat lunch.
And. We saw a rainbow. What is it about this place and rainbows? I see one every time I am here.
I blinked my eyes and here we are back in Texas. Is not that just the way?
Trying (not really THAT hard) to get off mountain time and back into real, adulting life for a few days. No more than that though because there is something exciting happening at the end of this week.
I told you this summer was going to be an adventure. We have been on two so far and the biggest one is yet to come! Here is your hint (ha! What a hint!). There will be a song for each day leading up to the big reveal. You do not want to miss this, I promise!
Walk in love, dear readers!
Good morning from this beautiful spot! this was actually yesterday afternoon…details. 
Just a quick check in to say this gal is going to check out here for the week!
Talk to y’all soon!
Until then, walk in love, dear readers.
