When Your Life Flashes . . .
February 1, 2012 
. . . before your eyes? Ever had one of those moments? I did today.
I had harnessed up Kody and gone for a drive. I noticed that someone was working with the backhoe, and to avoid the big machine, went over to the other side of the ranch to trot around there.
Now the two sides are divided by a four-lane road; and, to get from one to the other, you can go under the river bridge, or through the flood control tunnel under the road. I chose the latter; it’s a simple pair of concrete boxes set at a slight angle from each other. It’s a bad spot. There have been several traffic fatalities there, as drivers miss the turn and end up smashed between the tunnels.
Anyway, I forgot all about the backhoe as we started back through the tunnels. We were about halfway through the first one, when I heard the roar of the backhoe in the second. That was when I had that flash. I couldn’t turn around; the tunnel is barely wide enough for a pickup. Frank the driver couldn’t see or hear us, because of the angle between the tunnels. We were too far in to back up. The only thing I could think of was to steer as far to the outside of the first tunnel as possible, so we would be seen sooner.
Poor Kody was suddenly faced with a giant roaring machine, a few feet away, with nowhere to go. He could have panicked and gone over backward, or tried to turn around and smashed us against the tunnel wall, or plunged through the barbed wire fence between the tunnels. He didn’t; he hopped up and down, sidled, and half-reared, but stayed under control. Luckily we had been seen, and Frank immediately went into reverse. I urged Kody forward, and we “chased” the monster out of the tunnel. Frank pulled over and shut it off. Kody calmed right down, and we got past without incident.
He’s a good pony.
Earlier, Marion took some pictures of us. Here we are walking by . . .
. . . and here picking up a little trot.
I’ll say it again: Good pony, Kody!
Kittiless
I thought I heard mewing last night, and sure enough, a kitty strolled out of the garage this morning. Someone had dumped off a half-grown tabby, very tame and sweet. In other words — lacking any chance of survival around here. Luckily, one of the boarders fell in love and took him home; so we’re once more kittiless.
Not lambless, though. I caught them curled up asleep in a hole this morning. Apparently they thought it was a lambie bed. Can you see both fuzzy little heads?
Later, I helped Marion work her horse EZ in the round pen. He has a nice canter, for a gaited horse, and zips around at high speed until he settles down.
Like many gaited horses, he’s a bit more lateral in the canter than a non-gaited horse. In other words, the legs on the same side move more in parallel than in other horses. Some really don’t have a lope, just a broken pace; but EZ does lope. Or canter, if you don’t speak Western!
Dentist Monday
A trip to the dentist is not anyone’s favorite way to start the day. I needed a crown, and spent about an hour and a half in the dentist’s chair — mostly upside down, as it was a top tooth.
The rest of the day was pleasant, despite a slightly sore jaw, and I spent it loafing. This evening is my knitting group, so the best I can do today is another of my favorite pictures — this one of a brilliant leaf peeking out of the lawn on a frosty morning. I’ll try to post something more interesting tomorrow.
It looks like it ought to have a face . . . probably smiling.
It’s Sunday Again . . .
. . . and as usual, nothing much is going on. I’ve been to Barnes and Noble and have three new books to read; there’s 15-bean soup simmering on the stove; and the biggest question is . . . crackers or tortilla chips with the soup?
So here’s a pretty picture from ’08; the rare-and-endangered Bakersfield cactus. As well as being rare, it’s beautiful; with vibrantly colored satiny petals, as you can see. It’s not one of those inconspicuous little endangered plants!
Ridin’, Ropin’, Restin’
Andrew and his buddies have been spending some time at roping practice in the arena. They only have a tractor to pull the roping dummy, though, so it’s not nearly as fast or agile as a real steer. Still, they’re having fun.
Today was sunny, and lots of the horses spent their time flat out enjoying the warmth. No, they aren’t dead . . .
. . . just resting. Nothing looks quite as relaxed as a sunning horse.
The lambs, meanwhile, were spending their time at more important things — like nursing.
They’re getting plenty of rest, too. After all, being born is hard work!
Upside-Down Day
It’s an upside-down day when the high for the day is before you get up. We slept too warm last night, and didn’t even turn on the electric blanket. It was 57 when I turned on the morning news. After that, it just got cooler.
We get days like that when there are a lot of high clouds, and the sun beating on them works just like an evaporative cooler. It’s kind of depressing, and there have been very few people out to brave the grey cool weather. It’s not that cold; but it seems to chill the soul. I was planning to get out and drive again, but spent the day knitting and reading instead.
Not a bad alternative, actually!
Twins!
January 25 was not such a dull day after all. Billy came up while Andrew and I were chatting to inform us that Andrew had twins! Not personally, of course; one of his ewes did the actual birthing.
They’re pretty cute . . . and obviously not identical.
They’re very tiny; they can’t weigh more than two or three pounds each. But they seem healthy and active.
They’re also young enough that they seem a little unsure about who Mother is.
But they’ll figure it out. In other news, Kody and I — with Marion’s aid and support — took our first solo drive in the new cart. It couldn’t have gone better; that cart does ride like a Cadillac. Springs are a wonderful invention.
Rain at Last
A good rain, that is. After yesterday morning’s light rain, we got a good storm in, and we have actual puddles all over the yard. We got forty-four hundredths, officially. That might not seem like much to people who live in more temperate climates, but it’s cause for rejoicing here.
Of course, there are drawbacks. I think I’ll wait a day or two before using my pretty new cart again. The puddles won’t do it any good, and the mud is slippery.
Yesterday WordPress seemed to be having problems, and I could only get one picture in the sequence I took yesterday posted. Let’s see if it’s better now . . .
There’s one . . . here you see that even the pinkelponkers were washed clean.
I hiked out and looked upriver. The cloud reflections were breathtaking.
As I said yesterday, all of the trees glittered like jewels. I tried to capture the moment . . . this was as close as I could come.
Today was cloudy for most of the day; no jeweled trees, lots of mud. But it was a good day for sitting by the fire. I got out for a walk, though, and was a little startled to see Channel 23 news driving in. Then I remembered — there had been a police sweep that morning, moving out the homeless and their dogs. The reporter was looking for someone homeless to interview.
We’re in two minds about moving them out. Many of the dogs are a problem. They’ve come in and attacked Andrew’s sheep several times, and then run right back to the camps. They aggressively defend those camps — against horseback riders going by. The people themselves aren’t usually a problem, though there is some petty theft. The trash is a problem; there was some heavy equipment in today, scraping it up. The last time they did that, though, they just pushed it all onto our property. That’s not helpful.
One problem for many of these transients – shelters don’t accept dogs. Not all of their dogs are large or aggressive, and they may be the only friends they have. A local church set up a camp in their parking lot, but the neighbors weren’t thrilled, and they had to shut down. Where do these people go?
These days, almost anyone could find themselves homeless. It’s a big problem, and I don’t know of anyone with a solution.
Trees Hung with Diamonds
There are few things as wonderful as a good rain after a long dry spell. After the disappointment of the last rain, in which a few hundredths were completely dried out by the following winds, everyone is grateful for the rain we got today.
After this morning’s first burst, the skies cleared and the sun came out. All of the dull gray trees and bushes were washed clean, and glittering like a million diamonds in the sunshine. I wandered around trying to catch the effect, but it’s not easy. Still, the clouds were there to be captured . . . and there’s a lot more, but WordPress won’t post my pictures. Maybe later.
