Welp. I dare say that was (well, still is) a whopper. A doozy whopper of a hurricane. I just came up with that. Just roll with it.
(Disclaimer…blogging from your phone is difficult and annoying. Please forgive any spelling or grammatical errors.)
Words really can not describe the magnitude of devastation. EVERYWHERE.
I had a friend ask me if I or my parents had ever seen anything like this. My response? My grandparents haven’t ever seen or heard of anything like this. And my family has been in this area for a long time.
It will take me a little while on this one to gather my thoughts and put them into words. To be honest, I am not even sure if I can. I will try though, not just for me, but for my people, my city, my region, my state. Please know that me and my animals and my people are all well. We are safe and on the right side of the worst of it. We have been blessed and I am more sure than ever that God provides. And He is here. Always. I so appreciate all of the comments and messages from you, my dear readers. It means the world to me.
I apologize for being MIA since my last post. That was not my intention, but in circumstances such as these, your prioraties change pretty quick.
I hope you are all well. I do not even remember the last time we spoke. That is how long this storm, horrible Harvey, has been going on.
There is much work to be done now, but until then, please enjoy our aftermath of the storm.
And the Oxford comma. Ha! Hey, I’ve got jokes today!
No, for real.
Something so Elemental as to embody all four of those concepts. More than just words. They are senses. Images. Feelings. Emotions. All in themselves.
The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. God’s paintings twice a day, every day, no matter where you are. Both at the beginning and the end. Of everything. Yet different every day. New.
Seeing and smelling the earth, feeling the air across your skin as you lope your horse around, praying for those clouds to produce some rain (at least where we are, they have had more rain than us!), and having your soul set on fire.
Blessed and grateful.
The reflection of the sunset on the eastern sky Saturday evening with horses and friends. Clearly no better at focusing for photos than I’m sure we were as kids…
Please take a moment to enjoy Lito’s expressions. Seriously, that horse. I just can not contain myself.
Sorry. Where was I? Right.
Sunrise progression Sunday morning. I told you God likes Sundays to be foggy…
Two things that inspire me most next to my horses and my dog.
Have you caught a sunrise or a sunset recently? Share if you have! If you have not, do yourself a favor and watch one soon.
Sunrise. My favorite time of day. If you have not deduced that little factoid about me yet. It is. It is just my favorite time of day. Everything is new, fresh, and innocent. Dynamic and colorful. An event you can count on every day. For me, I am always struck by the blessing. The blessing to have a new day as a gift. A fresh start. To do what makes my heart smile. To begin a new day in the best way possible viewing God’s painting. It certainly did not hurt that I got to see all of the horses right before I had to load up in my car and head to town for work. Nothing like country morning air laced with the smell of horse. I started out the day seeing the positive. The beautiful. The light. These shots were taken by the front gate as I was leaving.
I usually take her with me, but I left Darcy in town for the night because I was not going to get to the farm till late just to turn around and come right back. Barely enough time to do what needs doing, but it needed doing. Anyway, dogs always amaze me. I left her at my parents’ house in the care of my dad while she looked at me with confusion and sadness and came back to her happy face and wagging tail, seemingly asking where I had been. All perceived sadness and confusion gone as if it were not there in the first place. Today I came to pick her up after work and there she was, all smiles and ready to go. Are we going? Yes, we are going!
On Sunday, when I got back from my girls riding weekend, we had a much needed, grass growing rain. I got everything unloaded and the trailer cleaned out and parked before I took care of a couple of things. I cooked burgers for a late lunch with my parents while they worked on some chores themselves. They had been working all morning. Just as we sat to eat the sky opened up. It didn’t last terribly long, but the drops were big and plentiful. You know the kind. The kind that drenches everything before you realize it’s raining.
This weekend was much needed. I can’t say that I necessarily rested, but it was relaxing and I was able to forget my anxieties and all the balls floating in the air. There were 5 of us. We ate. We drank. We rode. We talked. We were leisurely and relaxed. We lounged by the pool. Rain was promised all weekend and we did not get any. We saw stunning sunsets set in thunderclouds illuminaded by lightning and serenaded by distant rolling thunder. Everyone was able to get home safe before the rain on Sunday.
My Cheetah girl was her usual, saucy self, but settled nicely once we got riding. We both needed that weekend.
Lito and I are proceeding with our hand walking regimen. It started out a little dicey, but today he was much better. But let us be honest, he is still easier than probably most other 4 year olds. After our walk, I let him graze for a little but while I enjoyed the shade and the sounds around me. Let us all marvel how he has not rubbed his mane out while being penned up!
All of this to say, I’m chugging along over here, juggling all the balls and doing all the things. Soon enough, life will settle back down and get back to ‘normal.’ Whatever normal is. Just less balls in the air I guess! Here is hoping I will be in my townhouse by the beginning of next week.
I miss you, my dear readers, and can not wait to get back to talking with you more!
Monday after work I snuck (sorry, I really just prefer it to sneaked, get over it) out to the farm to lock the horses into the paddock for the farrier who came out the Tuesday morning.
I arrived and got everything finished with enough time…and daylight…to fit a ride in on Cheetah. We have now redeemed ourselves from Saturday’s ride, and thank God, literally. AHAmoment. I did thank Him, for the ride and more. I have been pretty aggravated ever since Saturday, let us be honest.
It was a great ride and I feel better for it. I truly believe she does too. We just rode. That is all. Just for the fun and love of it. No agenda. No plans. No expectations. No pressure. Took what we had. Just rode for the shear joy. What IT is all about. AHAmoment, again! Those are our best rides. You can still make progress and work towards goals. Funny how that happens.
I snagged these quick videos for those of you who want or need a different view for a few seconds. If you are like my Niece, I welcome you to pretend you are riding. I will not tell anyone. Please notice the sun in that first one! I have decided I am not complaining about clouds anymore (sorry about Monday!). Do you know how many times in the Bible clouds represent God? A lot. Think about that. Do you want me to say it again??? AHAmoment! Also, clouds make the sun more brilliant when it shines through. So there.
What do you do just for the shear joy of it? Go do it.
Watching the super bowl made me think of how much has changed in this world and what
My favorite part I think!
life is like these days. How many years ago was it that you had to wait weeks for mail or news to cross the country and that was your only communication outside of the odd telegram? No smart phone always at an arm’s reach. Can you really imagine that in this day and age of social media?
Being 28, I never got to experience any semblance of that, but it sure does sound lovely. Idyllic even. To be truly disconnected and actually experience what is in front of you. I remember when the internet became a basic household staple. Dial up, yes, but still. Instant messaging on AOL. I got my first cell phone before I even turned 16, which was after most of my friends got cell phones.
Now, all you have to do is open your phone and your immediate thoughts can be seen by everyone, whether or not you sleep on it. More people should sleep on their thoughts. To me, it is a scary thing to think…and to witness. That is another story for another day, I digress. back to the super bowl. The game was barely even over when they switched screens to talk about what everyone was saying about it on various social networks! Who cares! Let us hear what the players and coaches have to say in the moment! It really took away from the experience.
Anyway, on to other things.Yesterday was one of those days. Both literally and metaphorically cloudy. The low, flat winter kind that makes you long for the summer sun to take away the ‘seasonal affective disorder.’ I do not actually have SAD, it just feels that way sometimes when I am being melodramatic.
Those eyes. This is what it looks like when you are frustrated with the weather tampering with your plans.
Why was I being melodramatic? It rained basically all Sunday morning. The one moment that I had the audacity to think I could fit in a ride before going home, the sky unleashed the real precipitation and made the ground slick as oil. Weather man, you mentioned nothing like this, by the way.
I spent Saturday morning doing chores because it was unexpectedly cold. I rode Cheetah Saturday afternoon which was, interesting. It was not the best ride in the world. Read this as the nut of the issue. At one point I had to dismount and lunge her by the reins so she could find her brain. Apparently we were both in a mood this weekend. Let us just be honest here. I really wanted to erase that ride with a better one Sunday morning. It just was not going to happen. Insert frustrated, annoyed me. Oh well, tomorrow is a new day, as they say.
My Lito could tell I was not my normal self and was extra attentive to me. I love him for that. Animals are great that way.
I will do a happy dance when the time changes back!
I got home and the sun was SHINING with no signs of past rain. Just an hour drive away. Naturally, I made brownies. The best brownies, seriously. I added a little strong brewed coffee, some coffee grounds, and cinnamon…and a little simple cream cheese frosting to top it off…oops. That made me feel a little better. Go make them. Pawning them off at the office today.
Post cleaning up my baking mess, there was going to be no cooking or cleaning for dinner. Insert the cheese tray. How I love thee. Winning as an adult. It was good game watching food.
What did y’all think of the game?
That is all for today. Clearly still random. Make it a great Monday, I am going to try to!
Happy Wednesday! It has flown by for me and I hope for y’all too. If you need help on that front, I am listening to Mike McClure today. I think Drew Kennedy will be next. I have really loved reading everyone’s year end reviews and goals and plans for 2017.
Now that we have all gotten our reflections and resolutions out of the way, let us get to my most favorite thing to do in the first week of January, every year. Vet day! Everyone is on the same schedule and starts the year off with hopefully a clean bill of health. This is really my only New Year tradition and I really look forward to it. This year is no different. It makes me feel good that they are taken care of and have everything they need. It is part of who I am. It is a perfect spring board for my 2017 goals. I also may or may not have purchased a new saddle pad this week…
Is there something that y’all do at the beginning of every year with out fail? or treated yourself to for what feeds your flame?
It is the only time I am happy to see my vet: when he is scheduled to come. On Friday, everyone gets their annual vaccines and check up, blood drawn for their Coggins test, and has their teeth checked. I scheduled the visit a couple of weeks before the holidays as I do every year. The funny thing is, the weather is ALWAYS less than pleasant. Cold, cloudy, and, if we are…er…lucky, wet. Seriously, every time. We always talk about it when he arrives. Sure enough, Friday looks like a good day for Vet day! Not to worry if you were, you will be getting a report on how it all goes.
The rest of the weekend looks nice and sunny! Barring any negative reactions to the vaccines, I will get some light riding in on Saturday and Sunday. There will also definitely be some campfire and music time Saturday evening.
Sounds like a good first week of 2017 to me!
The sun always comes out after the clouds. AHAmoment.
Walk in love with your head held high, dear readers.
everyone gets their annual vaccines and check up, blood drawn for their