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Old 12-29-2008, 06:51 PM   #1
Sonne
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Default Jewel post a beautiful letter...

The Wind

23th December (though in her page says another date)



It's been cold here in Texas. The month of December has been made more festive by the colder weather. But in true Texas fashion, the weather changed. Suddenly the wind began to blow in from the south, instead of the chilly north, and the temperature rose accordingly, a balmy 60 degrees! We decided to take full advantage of the warm spell and invited Ty's parents, Butch and Joy, as well as family friends, Tom and Betty, for a lazy day ride.

Tom has been looking for a horse, and we have too many really, more than we can ride. This in all fairness isn't our fault; for some reason people give us horses! We have only purchased 3 of the 16 horses we have. Sometimes the horses are nice, well bread quarter horses that friends (like the Steiner family) have given us as gifts. Other times folks give Ty horses that are particularly rank or wild. Such is the case with our horse, Ranch. He was sent to us by a ranch that couldn't sell him because he kept bucking off the ranch hands. He's a beautiful grey spotted quarter horse that's built strong and stout. You could run a calf between his front legs, his chest is so wide. He has a nice hip on him, and a calm, kind eye. Honestly, we didn't find him to be that wild. He would just get anxious in transitions, going from a trot to a canter for example, and particularly if the rider was nervous. Ty's style of horse breaking is very gentle and horses respond well to it. A horse that is usually troubled and bothered becomes very calm with Ty and our style of riding. Anyway, Ranch is still pretty green, but proved to be a nice, kind horse. We thought he would make a great horse for Tom, so we let him come over and test ride him to see if it was a good fit.

Joy also started her own colt, which most 64 year old ladies don't do! She's really quite a cowgirl, and her colt, Hot Rod, is really coming along nicely. Butch rode his colt, Roy, Ty was on Zip, and I was on my old horse Chance. I bought Chance on the set of the movie I did, "Ride with the Devil" He was Quantrell's horse in the movie. I fell in love with him and bought him when the film wrapped, he's a great horse.

The wind from the south was warm, but STRONG! That warm wind was blowing 30 miles an hour or so bringing all the warmth up from the south with it. Luckily on a two thousand acre ranch, there is always someplace that is sheltered from the wind. We headed to the Pecan Bottom, a valley of old growth pecan trees that is sheltered on all sides by sentinel rows of thick oak trees... it's a natural shelter from the wind.

It was so peaceful in the lush valley bottom. We practiced drills for much of the day. We all sat on our horses in the middle, while one person rode in a big circle around us. We practiced transitions and riding with subtlety and correctness, going for commands that are so slight, you see no movement of hands or feet when someone watches. The idea is to make the horse's feet an extension of your own feet, not to bully the horse or over power it.

Anyway, we really enjoy learning every day to ride better. It's an endless craft to improve, an art to refine each day. It was nice to get an unexpected warm day to do just that. The sunlight made kaleidoscope patterns as it sifted through the bare limbs and branches, casting puzzle pieces of shadow and light upon the fallen leaves that blanketed the forest floor. We wove our patterns in and out of trees, the fresh air lifting our spirits as we enjoyed the stolen respite from the cold. Even the horses felt good. In fact, all creatures seemed to be enjoying the warm weather. We saw deer, armadillos, and raccoons all out enjoying the day.

Tom and Ranch got along well, and we continued to ride for several hours all through the pecan grove until suddenly a large ROAR was heard. It rattled with a deep and terrible moan, like a death rattle building in the lung of the sky. We all stopped and looked at each other. The horses pr icked their ears. It took a second for me to realize what was happening. It was the sound of the wind changing right then, right before our eyes and ears. The wind was changing directions in one giant sweep. Like a giant sail cast far into the heavens. The wind leaped and churned and pulled, changing course. Instantly the temperature dropped as the northern blew in. We were protected in the corner of the field we were in, but we could hear the wind building across the plains and all at once, it came crashing up to the oak trees that bordered where we were. Forcing it to lurch upwards, screaming through the tops of the dry timber. Like an invisibly, that wind shook the tops of the pecan trees above us, as we stood in awe in this tiny pocket of calm beneath the canopy of trees.

And just like that, everyone resumed what they were doing. Conversations started back up as we continued our ride back to the barn. Everyone turned up their collars and zipped their coats as they turned their horses towards home while the temperature continued to drop. For me, everything felt different. That noise hypnotized me as it continued to rage high above our heads. In the distance I could see enormous clouds of red dust lifting high into the air, giving a face to the invisible wind. It twisted and furled its brow before being lifted ever higher until it began to spread out like great fingers of a trembling hand. I was absolutely mesmerized. Everyone talked, shouted really, over the gusts. I rode quietly, listening to that primordial sound. It gave my bones a chill. It made me feel so small in time and space. IT was eerie and almost unearthly. As we approached an opening of the protected grove, my heart began to quicken. There was a stretch of land that was open and unprotected. We felt the full force of the wind upon us as we rode across it to the barn. Black smoke began to curl in the east. A fire must have started in the distance and I imagine the flames were instantly fanned. The black smoke smudged a small window of the sky. The guys talked about where the fire might be, possibly over by the airport. We edged closer to the opening of the pecan bottom. I Took the jacket I had tied to my saddle, put it on and zipped it up. I had also brought a hat with ear flaps, because proper Alaskan girls prepare for the worst on even the best days. Good thing! I hate cold air getting into my ears. I have a thing about it, I got ear aches easily and I hate drafts. It made growing up in a drafty log cabin in Alaska unpleasant at times, especially when the glacial winds blew across the bay. I remember long fall round ups when we would bring our cattle back from the summer grazing pastures. It's a 24 mile ride across open plains and two rivers swollen with glacial melt off. Man, I'd be so cold! My toes felt like they would fall off! And of course, we were too poor for real cold weather clothes, so it was a pieced together assortment of Salvation Army jackets and rubber boots lined with plastic bags to keep the wet off my feet. Talk about cold! One year I found used fireman's pants and jacket at the second hand store. It was silver, and the warmest thing I had ever owned. Man, I looked comical riding a horse in a silver thermal fireman's suit! It was fun, I always loved working with cattle and being on horseback.

As I left the sheltered meadow and cleared the corner, I braced myself for the full force of the raging wind. It STILL took my breath away. My horse became agitated, as did the rest, excited and high strung. Tom did small circles with Ranch to keep him busy and distract him from the wind. Recently Tom had a colt buck him and his broken leg is still healing. We didn't want a repeat performance, but luckily Ranch settled and we continued to ride with our shoulders shrugged up around our ears and heads down. It had dropped an incredible 50 degrees in a few hours.

I couldn't stop watching and listening to the sky. I was hypnotized by the sound that rose in the throat of the immense grey. The fire's smudgy chalk marks drawing fissures and cracks in the porcelain white of the sky. The red dust scattered like so much paint on the immeasurable canvas of the sky. I loved feeling so small beneath it. It felt cozy somehow, it's hard to explain. My mind had been so cluttered with my efforts and labors; a year's worth of work and effort, travel and constant movement. Full of hope and iron will, pushing myself. It was so full of so much, that when I came home and finally stopped moving, I felt like I was drowning inside from the weight of it all. But this wind, this giant wind, seemed to rattle me out myself. I felt like the wind slipped inside my skin and carried everything away, I watched it instantly dissipate into something so much larger.

When we reached the barn, I began to unsaddle but the spell was still lingering. We all stood around inside the barn, visiting about the types of saddles and various tack and where we should eat... but I was focused on the music in the sky. I tried to memorize it in case the feeling of peace left me and the crowded chaos began to creep back into my mind. I wanted to recall the tune and keep the emptiness inside me a little longer, at least long enough to fill it with something new.

Last edited by Little Bird; 12-30-2008 at 07:50 AM. Reason: had to get around a censored word
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Old 01-02-2009, 11:15 AM   #2
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Thanks for posting !
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Old 01-02-2009, 07:49 PM   #3
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I love it !!!
Merci Jewel
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