Down the Long Lane Helping Women Write
Where we left off…
After Losing Sonia Charlie needed a friend. We were lucky to find two senior OTTB (off-track Thoroughbred) horses to rescue and bring home (see Charlie Needs a Friend Part I). I hoped they’d soon accept our farm down the long lane as their new home. It takes time to build trust and many things can go wrong after adopting two hot-blooded horses. They could try to run away.
I love watching my horses roll. When I let the horses out in the morning, Charlie, the bay colt throws his head up, shakes his sleepy sand-filled eyes awake, bucks and rears, twisting toward the two chestnut mares, Sonia and Maggie, who dance and prance in the crisp morning air.
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Three weeks ago, just as all this Covid-19 craziness was beginning to complicate everyone’s daily life, my husband Greg decided to tackle a do-it-yourself project which required cutting off our water supply. My familiar fear of a potential nightmare created an opportunity for me to practice patience, problem-solving, and kindness. So, here’s how plumbing is like writing.
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A herd that had once numbered seven had dwindled to one. Now alone, Charlie grieved deeply. Every horse needs a herd. One horse can’t be a herd.
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Losing my horse Sonia last October really tore me up. But it was a lot harder on our horse Charlie—now he’s all alone. He needed a new family.
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It’s Christmas Eve and I want to wish you all a happy holiday and hope that you receive or find a way to achieve your deepest desire in the New Year. I also want to apologize for being out of touch for the last month.
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It’s Halloween, and it’s snowing for the second time this week and this time, it’s easily five inches. I’m not complaining. I know Denver has already had feet of snow and bit of shoveling is certainly better than all the fires the folks are having to deal with in California, but I do feel bad for the Leaf River kids trick-or-treating in the windy twenty-degree weather tonight.
After our rainy summer and a busy harvest season, I’m mentally ready for winter…but our farm is not.
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On Sunday, I knew it was time to let go of my sweet mare Sonia.
I had lived with her and she with me since the day she was born 28 years ago on our ranch in the high desert of California. A few years later, Charlie was born at our place in Utah.
Balancing my personal life and my creative endeavors is a challenge for me, a losing battle much of the time. Often, I make it worse by focusing on what I’ve left undone instead of what I have accomplished. That’s when the rant in my head begins, the name calling on a continuous loop—an endless list of words that help me tear myself down when I haven’t done enough, giving my inner critic the power to make me believe I’m not good enough and never will be.
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I’m redesigning my entire website, refocusing it on what I love to do and to write about: HORSES.
Don’t panic if you’re not a horse person. I’m hoping to find a community of people (or perhaps gather a new one) who just loves horses. You won’t need to know anything about horses to enjoy it. It’s not about “how to” but rather “why I love my life.”
In my future blogs, I’ll be talking about what it takes to care for horses and why the joy I experience is worth all the work.