Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Day One

As a pre-note: Julia and Sharlie are at my house for our Horse Camp. We have been planning this since January or so, and finally, it is time.

I woke up early to the sound of birds outside my window and the light spilling into my room. As I sat up, my head cleared from its usual morning grogginess. The feeling of my feet against the cold laminate flooring felt good to me as I sat on the side of my bed.

The first step out of the door was very pure, very freeing. The warm chill of the morning met me with a welcoming embrace, which I took very heartily. Fog was just beginning to rise over the valley and show a bit more of the grass and the scenery closer to the ground. I smiled at it all. It was a beautiful way for the day to greet the land.

The car sped down the road, trees and all passing quickly. I wished to myself that I could let the windows down,  hang my head out, feel the wind blow in my hair. I wished to close my eyes in that wind, to let it flow with me and embrace me and fill me as if I was riding the fastest gallop that was the smoothest ride. Soon, we would be there. The thought had not yet sunk in that she would be staying for a while. But it was nice, not being able to take anything seriously, as it always is.

The feeling of the first step into the Debski's car was definitely something that had been anticipated. I met Julia's nervous and bubbly atmosphere with a smile, because it is something that is always welcome. I smiled
at her flying thoughts and emotions, at all the things that would be going on through the day. I could feel her figurative hands wringing themselves and her smile beaming. She was nervous about the ride there, but once she got there she would be ready. 

I wondered, as we drove up the gravel drive, what would actually take place that day besides the loading and traveling of Sharlie's trailering. My shoulders shrugged at my wondering, because there was no way that I could possibly have known yet. No matter though. 

The next while went by fairly quickly, with us visiting Casper (who looked much happier and more positive now), Julia playing with Sharlie a bit, and then challenging myself to balance on poles. In this challenge, I made it a rule that I could only pick one foot to keep on one pole and that it could not touch the ground. This pole DID wobble, but I enjoyed it. I had a hard time hopping down the pole, but I managed it quite well until I came up with a wonderful idea - using my hands and knees would not be using my feet. I chuckled at my fairly logical answer to my challenge. It satisfied me enough that I did not have to test it out.

When it came time to load Sharlie, Julia was extremely nervous, but still less than I had expected. The thing that did surprise me was the way that she hadn't even walked up to the trailer and all of a sudden -- everyone swarmed. Susan grabbed some hay and was shaking it in front of her face, there was a cowboy off to the right ready with his leadrope, there was a man clucking at her and getting ready to slam the door closed, and all asking whether or not they should get this and that and this and that to entice her on to the trailer. I had expected that eventually, but never right away. I shrugged at it though, as Sharlie loaded right up on the trailer within the first minute and I stepped up to hold her leadrope until all of the doors were closed. Sharlie stayed fairly calm until all of the doors were closed, where she then spun in circles for a bit. All in all, she did really well.

The small girl, Hannah Grace, who sat across the truck from me continued to sing and swing her feet. Along with her light and quiet singing, the breeze hitting my face from the truck's open window, and the slowly calming atmosphere of Julia, I was able to really feel at peace. I decided that I liked the people, Susan and Tom, that were trailering Sharlie were fairly nice.

Throughout the day, we were able to get the obstacle course completed as well. There are squeezes, jumps, mazes, etc. I was overjoyed to have it all finished - which I had been trying to get done for the last couple of weeks. There are still a couple of obstacles that are not completely finished, but I suppose that those will come within the next two weeks. 

Once the dark began to come up, and Julia and I were preparing to take Sharlie and Cherish out to the pasture, I decided that I wished to be calm and enjoy myself for a moment. Does this mean that I'm not calm? No, I am usually quite calm. Does  this mean that I usually don't enjoy myself? No, I quite often enjoy myself. But to take time to actually go ahead and do nothing is wonderful. I hopped on Cherish's back while she was in her stall, simply standing quietly with her as she smelled the air and looked around. It was very peaceful.

The day, all in all, was quite a joy. The fact that Julia and Sharlie will be here for two weeks is still not setting in, and to tell the truth, I don't believe that I will be able to. I'm not one much for the realistic and practical thing, more for the abstract and creative things... Ah well. 

Tomorrow, I hope to do a passenger lesson, go for a walk, ride Cherish in the pond, and truly complete (for now) the obstacle course. I also hope to set up some kind of  freestyle/liberty area, which we seem to have enough t-posts for. We will see. Over the next two weeks, I hope to increase my lightness, actually complete some of my goals, teach Cherish something that she does not know (her challenge to me). I should probably be writing on here more often, actually letting you guys know about what I'm learning (which is a lot), but I really just don't feel like I need to all the time.

Well, smiles.

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