We had made it to Thompson Falls, Mont., yesterday morning when I saw three welcome words on my cell phone: I survived this.
My mother's heart could return from my throat back to its normal residence. While we had cell service, I also read a Facebook comment where one of Annie's friends had asked if her mother had seen the walled pathway along the mountainside in Switzerland.
Yeah, but the one I'm doing is worse, Annie commented.
Yes, Mom had seen that one AND the one in Austria where a geocache needed finding, and to find it, Annie would have get strapped into harness and climb a rock wall far above the valley below.
Yes, I had seen that photo, and in the back of my mind for the past two weeks while Annie has been traveling through Switzerland, Poland, Czech Republic, Germany and Austria, I knew that I would not rest easy until I heard that she "survived this."
Without flipflops, no less!
The folks in charge made her wear tennis shoes, but I doubt that they had any idea she would pull out her Seattle Sounders scarf while making the climb.
She did, and someone took a photo to add to her vast album of Sounders scarf promotions from around the world.
Having received the assurance that she had survived, I could focus on the day ahead which included a visit to Ravenwood Arabians where my sisters celebrated the first day of school by pulling their horse trailer over that way to pick up two new students: of the 4-legged variety.
A visit to Ravenwood in Ronan includes petting a lot of baby Arabians and falling in love with just about every one of them. There are the accessories that go along with looking at horses.
Some are two-legged; some are 4. Some swim, some taunt, some strut, some crow, some march in a line like ducks are supposed to do.
Some even ride in the 4-wheeler. That would be the cats and their mom Jane.
It's a laid-back place teeming with life and activity. Yesterday was no different from the other visits we've made there.
And, it was fun as usual.
My sister Barbara and our friend Nancy played with their little darlings which will come home in a couple of months after they're weaned. Barbara's "Eclipse" discovered just how good a massage can feel and acknowledged so by wiggling and extending his upper lip.
It took a little time to load the new students, Mazy and Persi (so named for Laurie's retirement paycheck). Everyone remained calmed and then the two decided that climbing into the trailer seemed like a wise option.
Jen, who works with Jane, said their other trailer experience occurred in a stock trailer which smelled like cow manure. I suggested that next time my sisters came to pick up a horse they should bring along a cow pie for easier loading.
The trip home was fun as Nancy drove our Subaru and we chatted nonstop until reaching my sisters' place where horses stepped out of the trailer and surveyed their new home. They also received an enthusiastic greeting from their new barn mates.
So, all is well. Annie survived the wall and is headed off to Iceland today before returning to Seattle tomorrow. Persi and Mazy survived the 4-hour trailer ride. The rest of us felt no need to survive because once again we enjoyed the experience of seeing all those horses and all their friends, human and others!
Still smoky today. The paper says it may be Friday before the air improves. There is one redeeming aspect: all the smoke blocks the sun and the intense heat predicted for this week. That is a good thing.
Happy Wednesday.
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