I Wanna Be Like Her When I Grow Up
I’ve been told I need to schedule more “fun time” for myself. It’s hard because there’s so much work to do around the house. I want to take more walks with Java. More horseback riding. But the days are so short now. I only seem to have enough time to work.
Weekends allow for a little more fun time. It was darn humid this morning and supposed to hit the 80s so I decided I’d take Luke to the park early. I was thinking about going to another park I’ve never been to before but I wanted to also ride Murphy, take Java for a walk, and run some errands. So I thought I’d take just a short, two hour ride at the nearby Rum River park.
I arrived at the park a little after 9:00 and was about to head into the woods when a woman got out of her truck and asked me if I was riding alone. When I told her “yes”, she asked if I’d mind riding together. Mind? Hell no! (I didn’t say it that way.)
She quickly got her Arab mare ready to go while explaining to me that a couple friends she was supposed to be riding with had backed out at the last minute.
(I have a very interesting sound backup to my blogging right now – fireworks going off somewhere and coyotes yipping up a storm.)
Anyway, the woman had been planning on going to another park farther away but when she ended up alone, she came to the local park instead. Lucky for me!
I’ll call my new friend PC, and that doesn’t stand for politically correct. PC is 72 years young. She lives on her own, can still stack hay and pick paddocks, rides her horse in the summer and snowmobiles in the winter. She gave me hope.
Her husband died when he was in his early 50s. She married again but “got rid of him none too soon” and is done with that. She’s working part time but would like to quit as it interferes with her social life.
After two hours of riding, PC suggested we break for lunch. I hadn’t brought anything but water, so she split her sandwich and Snickers bar with me. Then we rode for two more hours.
She was a complete delight! We exchanged phone numbers and she gave me a hug when I was about to leave. What a blessing, especially considering that when I was driving home from work on Friday I had just been thinking how much I needed a hug and perhaps a few words on the order of “It’s going to be okay.”
Actually, I think this is the first time since April that I’ve actually felt that possibly, just possibly, things could turn out okay.
I’ve had some e-mails going back and forth with my niece this week. And I was surprised when she wrote to me that, “There is a sweet spirit about you.”
When people say things like that, it always seems to bring tears to my eyes. I’ve been seeing myself through other unloving eyes for too long. It’s time I see myself through the eyes of people who think I’m funny, kind, and fun to be with. And maybe more important than who anyone else sees is who I see.
Or who Java sees! She makes me laugh so often throughout the day. I think she was put on this earth just to entertain me with the Java constant comedy act.
She’ll run under a tree and as she does so suddenly jump in the air and grab some leaves without even breaking stride. Any flying insect brings a similar enthusiastic air jump.
Today she was carrying a log with the length of it hanging down towards the ground and heading for the fence rails. I tried to warn her… The log hit the bottom fence rail, broke in two, and dropped out of her mouth. Java looked confused for a moment, then picked up a broken log chunk and continued to jump through the fence. No biggee.
I caught one of her pool leaps.
And then the big splash.
She spent some time in the kennel today while I went riding and later when I went grocery shopping. She seems to be fine with it. I picked up a tarp today that I plan on putting over the top.
If you see a couch that resembles a sandy beach in someone’s house, it’s pretty much a sure sign they have a dog and that said dog has had a fun day. And that said owner is just shaking her head and smiling.
See Mary…things are looking up. What a great day. And Java doing well in her kennel is terrific. I’m so glad you met PC…maybe you will ride together again. When you are going through tough times, time is the thing that makes the difference. You sure are doing better! Nice.
Sounds like a very nice ride! (Aside: I used to ride a pony named PC – he was an Appaloosa, and PC stood for Partly Cloudy.)
It sounded like a great unexpected ride! Life is looking up, don’t you think? And, thanks to Java from me for the laughs. I love the pool leap pict!
How fun you made a horse-girl friend. I love meeting nice people unexpectedly.
And, those smiling pigs made me laugh.