It is a chilly morning and I'm cuddled underneath a particularly soft blanket with a cup of Yorkshire tea next to me. Aberdeen is beside me and my Bumpy is curled on top of my feet. The sun is peeking up on the horizon and the mountain has that morning glow. The past couple days have been so special, for all that is ordinary and all that is extraordinary.
Uncle Paul and Aunt Wanda included a visit to our house in their epic RV journey across the west and it has been life-giving to see them again. The love and bond of family, far and wide, even continents apart, is beautiful. The boys are absolutely eating up every minute they are given with them, and I know that goodbyes are going to be difficult, as always. It is extraordinary to see them after so much time has galloped by since we last were together, but it is truly the ordinary, simply moments together that are the most remarkable: watching the boys help rebuild the famous little riding mower (which doesn't mow) with Uncle Paul, looking through the family photo album, catching up on all the (far and wide) family news, sharing a lunch of Aunt Wanda's beef soup, wandering the nearby ruins in the late evening, family dinner last night. Time robs us of so much, but in the losing, perhaps we more deeply treasure what we should. I treasure this.
The boys have been training their horses each week and this week they each took them on a long walk. Those babies conquered some big fears with the ruthless perseverance of their masters. ;-) Wynn DOES NOT LIKE ditches, of any sort. So, we, of course, had no difficulty finding several ditches to assist in the training, and Madigan patiently guided Wynn with steady pressure and a little bit of fight for over 50 minutes, until she went from leaping, bouncing and falling through the ditch to walking confidently, if not enthusiastically, through each ditch, trusting Madigan (probably) wouldn't lead her to a catastrophic end.
Shadowfax knows with absolute certainty that goblins live in trash cans and that trash cans have large mouths with which to gobble up anything, but mostly horses. So, when we came upon a neighbor's trash can near the road, he almost had a heart attack. He was not to be convinced! When we got home, he was still super jittery about our trash cans which were sitting beside the road for trash day. So, Kelton climbed into the recycle can, much to Shadow's horror! He was absolutely mortified when Kelton disappeared inside the can and the lid closed. Then, when Kelton miraculously rose from the gaping mouth of the can, Shadow was in shock and filled with awe. After several replays of this general move, Shadow's courage began to rise, and soon he was even assisting with opening the lid to let his boy free. I love watching the minds of these animals learning, absorbing and growing. The bond between each boy and his horse is developing into something that will change each of them, deeply.
Here are two videos of Shadow's journey into bravery:
Another week is ahead of us... Monday is upon us. I do not know what each day will hold and I'm thankful I do not. I will rise each morning prepared for one thing... to take the next step.