Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Toes in the Water

Most of the time Melissa and I lead very "adult" lives and that is as it should be. After all, we are responsible for a myriad of things from horses to running a business, paying bills and bringing Carter up successfully. This gets brought home to us whenever we have something unexpectedly break or on long days outside when the weather is less than ideal. The past several days have featured leaden gray skies and copious rain. Not much fun to be out in.

I was thinking about all of this yesterday as the rain sluiced down on my head while I walked toward the house after completing afternoon chores. About midway between the front barn and the house our driveway crosses a small creek. I noticed that the water was running fairly deep and on a whim I grabbed a stick to  check the depth. When I was through I tossed the stick into the middle of the stream to see how quickly it got carried away.

Before I knew what I was doing I found myself following the stick as it made its way across the farm. A couple hundred yards downstream there is a shallow spot where the water spills over a rockfall and there is an easy crossing if you wish to get to the other side. Thanks to the rain the water was deep but instead of testing the depth with a stick I stuck my boot down into it and hunted for the bottom. I found it, too. A half inch above where my rubber boot ended. But instead of cursing my luck I found myself smiling. Turns out I'm still not to old to get a soaker while finding a lot of fun playing in the creek on a rainy day. I wish that I could always remember that the sort of day I'm having has less to do with external circumstances and more to do with what is going on between my two ears.

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We've had fun watching all the playful horses the last couple of days. This is Johnny and Lighty . . . 


. . . why I will never be a professional photographer but you get the idea that Lighty and Johnny were having a big time. .. 


. . . I love Lighty's expression here with his tongue sticking out. That is Africa standing in front of Lighty and Johnny . . .


. . . Lighty and Africa took off running together . . . 


. . . Africa and Lighty having fun . . . 


. . . Africa and Lighty being wild things


Some of the members of the grey horse club having a lunch meeting. Gus, George and Asterik.


A Paradigm Farms winter scene; Elfin, Grand, Tony and Trigger


The mares were wound up today as well. This is Dolly showing off her skills from her dressage days and doing a pirouette. For some reason I really like this picture, her expression, her movement, the steamy air she is snorting out, and the ice on the trees behind her.


Maisie and Traveller momentarily striking a pose


Dolly, Calimba and MyLight on the run


Dolly and MyLight

3 comments:

EvenSong said...

Digital photography makes it easier to shoot good photos. You just take whole bunches and pick the best ones to publish. The one of Johnny and Lighty was "practice"....the one of Dolly IS very nice!

Funder said...

I really, really miss playing in a creek during a thunderstorm.

Anonymous said...

I think it's so important not to lose that childhood feeling of wonder and delight - there's so much of that to enjoy if we just stop and pay attention - which we adults aren't so good at!