Inside My Mind

And inside her mind, she is running in the summer wind.
Inside her mind, she is running in the summer wind
Like a child again.

From "Child Again," by Beth Nielsen Chapman (a wonderful song about aging; listen to it!)

Some friends brought over two mares and a little filly (still nursing sometimes) to graze on our winter pastures for a while; they're eating it down and getting what little nourishment is left in the grass. They'll leave soon for a small paddock where they can get fed hay and grain, but while they're here, it's great.

I grew up with horses — watching them, raising them, riding them, even taming and training one from a baby, for riding. So it's really fun to see them right outside our windows again. It reminds me of my wonderful childhood...and also the fact that I won't live like this again. So I treasure it every day; all of it. But now, especially with the horses.

I got a pony at age six...the usual recalcitrant, pinto pony. Stocky. Headstrong. Stubborn. Fun. I loved that pony. Mom seemed to name a lot of our animals, and that pony became Twinkle-Toes. Twinks for short. One of my earliest memories is the excitement I felt getting that pony.

Dad taught me how to ride. He got a big buckskin mare of his own, named Honeygal, to ride as part of his work with the sheriff's posse. Volunteer position. He did it for fun, sort of. He did get to carry a gun, so I guess he was playing cowboy a bit. So was I. (And I still have his gun, a neat little pistol.)

I rode the legs off that pony. It wasn't too long before I graduated to Honeygal. I was fearless and free on horseback. I could ride off on my own almost wherever I wanted, and I did. I spent endless hours riding alone, often early in the morning and in the evenings, before and after school, and all summer, of course. Until I left college and moved to Texas. Then the horses stopped.

Dad got it in his head to raise Appaloosas, so we did that for quite a while. Dad and I loved the horses best; the rest of the family tolerated them; sometimes my brother Scott rode, too, but not much. Not like I did. Horses shaped my life in a big way.

So I guess now in my mind, I'm riding in the summer wind, like a child again. And it's great.