Twas a full and satisfying Sunday, indeed, as Terra and Lefty finished off their 4-H horse show and first-ever performance (for both) with a blue ribbon.
We (Barbara, Laurie, Terra's mom and I) all enjoyed how Terra proudly held on to her second blue ribbon in two classes, even while just moseying around the fairgrounds on Lefty.
We often forget, as adults, how profoundly meaningful those moments are to young people. Terra told me she would fill out the "date, place, class" informaton on the back of her ribbons for posterity.
It was truly a wonderful experience for my sisters and I to work with this aspiring young horsewoman, and we're all looking forward to seeing how far she takes her equine pursuits. Whatever she chooses to do, we already know she'll always strive to do her best and with grace.
After the show, my sisters, Bill and I took off for the annual visit to beautiful Boulder Meadows off Twenty Mile Road east of Naples.
The start did not go so well as an accident on HWY 95 near Elmira sent traffic to what has to be the dustiest stretch of road in North Idaho. At times, all we could see were headlights from the endless string of oncoming traffic, including huge travel trailers.
At one point, we came upon a motorcycle and a parked car. Turns out the cyclist had gone far enough through heavy dust to realize that he could hardly breathe, so he had to turn around. Traffic stopped briefly as he made his escape.
Finally we made it back to the highway and had gone up the road for a few miles before meeting what appeared to be our second obstacle. A pickup and stock trailer were parked almost in the middle of the road. As we approached, Bill noted that it looked like the driver was trying to fix a flat tire.
We could get by him, but my Eagle Scout husband was not moving on until he helped the Forest Service packer change his tire. It was an intricate job, but the two guys working together managed to do it.
In the meantime, my sisters, their dogs and I simply enjoyed walking around and basking in the nice mountain breeze.
We eventually arrived at the meadows where after handing over some bear spray and a walkie talkie, Bill left with his fly rod. We headed off down the board walk with a couple of buckets in hopes of picking a few berries but eventually becoming more content in stopping a lot and taking photos.
Boulder Meadows is rich with beauty pretty much any time but especially so right now with the continuous carpets of colorful wildflowers. The trails are nice, and we stuck on them as far as the main creek before turning around.
When we met up with Bill back at the rigs, we learned he had taken photos also of the two nice trout he caught while we were off on our adventure.
Twas great to get out into the back country with no real agenda except to enjoy. And, that we all did.
We returned to the discovery that the hay had all been baled. No rain. Nice and green. And more bales than last year. All that remains is for Harvey's crew to store the bales and for me to write a check.
This year's hay season was definitely no muss, no fuss for me, and that's the way I love it.
Bill just left with Annie. She'll fly back to Seattle this morning and head to work after a busy weekend in her own "private Idaho."
Looks like a great day for picking more blueberries and beans.
Happy Monday.
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| Lisa Nolan Ailport Photo |
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