We were out at the Gilbert Ranch yesterday afternoon.
The sun was tossing beams into the breeze like aspens toss their clatter — you know what I mean (maybe?). The spring season was so tangible up there on the mountain slopes with the cattle cooing and chewing. The last of the cold white was running down the mountains in blue rivulets and opaque, silty waters. The horses lit up the wind with the last strains of day mingling in the vines and twines of their winter coats. We rode bareback for a short while, I practiced my indian horse mount for a bit (it’s a swashbuckling sort of maneuver), we breathed deep the big warm animal, oat scent of horses, slid off broad backs and brushed the hair and dust from the inside of our legs. We laughed a lot. The wind licked our cheeks pink.
Gosh, it’s so beautiful when springtime is sighing all along the creeks…
Melissa and I went for a walk in the cow pastures and found this beautiful, fresh little calf. She was born only a handful of hours before we found her. Her mum was down the hill grazing with the other ladies and their babes so we were able to run our cold fingers through the velvet black of her coat. I rubbed her gently behind her ears and we found ourselves envious of her magnificent eyelashes. There’s just something so beautiful and hopeful about young things (especially now, when so much of the world seems upside down and turned around). With my hands on that calf, a pair of deeply hidden maternal wings inside me unfolded a bit and flapped about joyfully. I didn’t want to let that wee calf go. There are so many small, seedling hopes hidden in the everyday. Each nook and cranny is bursting with the potential to elevate our spirits, inflate our souls, fill us to brimming and sweet overflowing…
I love having our friends here.
I love our friends.
Good Friday to you all.
xx