Moving the menagerie

Today marks another crucial day in the Love family major detour to Selle. First, I must report no bear sightings so far this morning, but as I type, I can see the sun reflecting off from two buildings up at Schweitzer.

I'm sitting at the island in our kitchen and facing the kitchen window which frames the full extent of Schweitzer Mountain Resort's slopes. Although a mountain in the foreground blocks the basin itself, I can see Chair One just left of center and three of the new ski runs on the back side, which lead into Colburn Basin.

Below the mountains, the foreground takes my eyes across a series of rolling green fields with a backdrop of healthy evergreen trees, including the "God Tree," which I so named this past Sunday while marveling at this beautiful new farm of ours. The tree is the largest lodgepole pine I've ever seen, and it forks to the north and south---a great photographer's dream for group positioning of people portraits.

Today's major project involves moving at least two horses to this new place. Normally, that would be somewhat challenging, as moving horses in horse trailers is not always easy, especially when the horses choose not to walk into the trailer. Fortunately, Rambo and Casey like the three-horse slant trailer, which I bought from my sisters.

Adding to our challenge, however, is Rambo's blindness. He was blind the last time he rode in that trailer. That was when we went of his second appointment with an eye specialist in Spokane, where it was determined that his one remaining eye had suffered a loss of vision due to a displaced lens. He's lost sight in the other eye five years before because of a bout with uveitis, which sometimes snuffs off all activity to the eye.

Rambo's a smart horse, however, and he's reacted admirably to his vision impairment. His biggest problem is awareness of objects right in front of him, and, yes, he's bumped into a few fences. That has all happened in the territory where he was born and has lived for 21 years. In fact, I was so busy I didn't have time to wish him a happy birthday two days ago. Rambo shot on to the scene in the middle of the night after the Fourth of July back in 1985. I even helped deliver him.

I'm a bit nervous about delivering him to this new home because he'll have to learn the lay of the land without the advantage of sight. When he was a baby, it was those gangly long legs that caused him to stumble around a bit. Today, it will be the absence of vision. We have a pasture set up next to the barn and will plan to stay around throughout the day to monitor how he adjusts. I'm also considering the old trick of putting a bell around Casey's neck to let Rambo know where his buddy is at all times.

It's also possible that Louis, the board horse, will join his two friends out here for a while. His owner Howard Rasmussen has been waiting to have his place fenced, but that hasn't happened yet.

With luck, our horsing around adventure will work today. And, with luck, we'll find Fuzzy Wuzzy and Licker---the last of our cat menagerie. And when the sun goes down over those beautiful runs up there at Schweitzer, we may rejoice that the whole family---kids, cats, dogs and horses---and even a few friends have experienced a bit of our new heaven on earth.