Simple but Profoundly Appreciated Gifts

A very nice lady came up to me at the fair a while back.  

"If you go to the quilt section, back in the old photography room, you'll see a quilt hanging there with my name on the exhibitor's tag," she said.  "I made that quilt just for you, and I want you to have it."  

I was so stunned and moved by her comment that I fumbled through a proper thank you.  The words reflecting my deep sense of appreciation just weren't there at that moment.

Later, after having time to think, I offered both words and a sample of my own talents to let her know how much the beautiful quilt with all the birds meant to me.

It now resides on our love seat in the living room.

Whenever someone give of their time and talents for my benefit, I feel deeply blessed.

Yesterday I felt both blessed and ecstatic as I thought about my sisters and my friend Roxane from down the road.

They have shared their busy time with me so that I could finally turn the corner, so to speak, with my young horse Lefty.

My bravery and confidence with young horses has subsided substantially in the past several years.  

The old days of climbing aboard any old horse available have long faded into my sunset.  

I think specifically in terms of Blackie, down at Delamarter's place when I was a pre-teen.  I rode that mare bareback and loved her cuz she reared on command.  

No longer do rearing on command or even spooking with spontaneity thrill me.  I have developed a healthy sense of fear in my golden years.

That very rational emotion comes from hearing about long-term injuries sustained by others of my same general age who have taken a spill from a horse.   

Heck, I even think about my sister whose superb riding skills could not prevent her from spending the summer with crutches and a boot.

So, to say I'm cautious about taking off on a green horse would exceed the best of understatements.

I'm just plain cowardly.

Over the past few weeks, my sisters and my friend Roxane have been willing to share their time with this old fraidy cat so she can ride her young horse within a safety net that guarantees a quick response to any catastrophe I may suffer.

I am deeply thankful. 

Yesterday afternoon I met Roxane and we went for a lovely fall ride down the Center Valley complex of roads.

We had agreed to meet after her dental appointment.  When I saw her drive by on her way home to saddle up, Lefty was pretty much ready except for his bridle.

I took my time bridling him and walking him around to tighten his cinch, figuring that the more time wasted, the more time Roxane had to saddle up and, more importantly, make her way almost to my driveway.

No way was I gonna ride Lefty halfway to her house ALONE.  

Well, time passed, and I decided to bite the bullet, climb on and head out the driveway.

We'd made it almost to the property line between Meserve's and the Lovestead when I looked behind me (scared, of course, for the first car to come rolling past) and saw a huge garbage truck on Selle Road.

The damn thing turned on to our road.  I turned Lefty around and tried to get back to our lawn before the truck caught up with us. 

Didn't work. 

We rode past the rattly thing head on.  Lefty did nothing.  My confidence soared.

I turned him around and headed him back to the north to meet Roxane.

Surely, she'll be appearing soon, I hoped.

Well, she didn't. 

I ended up riding Lefty almost a mile before seeing Roxane----and that was past some really scary things.  

He got a little flustered in front of Jack Filipowski's barn and then MY CELL PHONE rang.  Lefty didn't like the cell phone, but he did stand still while Roxane told me she was on her way. 

From that point on, he just walked down the road like a good horse.

Once Roxane and I met, we plodded past scary white turkeys, goats on stumps and two horses running a fence line.  We saw twirling yard ornaments at the old Spraker place, and then turned around for another view of the goats, turkeys, chickens and some deer.

Throughout most of the ride, I felt relaxed and increasingly more confident that this little horse wasn't gonna be too bad.

In fact, the worst thing he did on his first road ride was get mixed up about which direction was the way home.

He kept turning around, going the opposite direction of home.  

At first I thought he was dealing with an obnoxious horse fly, but soon Roxane suggested that he might be mixed up about where he was headed.

We dealt with that for a ways down the road, when suddenly Lefty started recognizing familiar sights.  He walked like a trooper from that point on.

Roxane left and headed for home about half a mile from our driveway, after seeing that Lefty and I would be all right.

I am so thankful for her help and support and that of my sisters' who've spent some time with Lefty and me over at their place.

I feel now that there's no reason to fear the unknown about my little horse and that we could probably even take off on a solo ride.  

Barbara, Laurie and Roxane may not realize it, but their time and their support have provided simple gifts that have meant so much to me-----just like that beautiful quilt in the living room.