the white cat, with the snipped off tail had a mouth full of field mouse. not small by field mouse standards, but not large by rat standards. just an adequate mouthfull of field mouse. we stopped to watch the white cat and see what would happen, mouse takes the opportunity to escape the jaws of death, as it were.
and runs to me. between my feet as i stood looking down, he cowered, his half tail still, hunkered down between my mudcaked black boots, as the former housecat (who is at the ranch because he "needs to lose weight"), slinked by looking everywhere for the once promising mouthfull.
it turns out, kitty didn't want a feast but a toy. mousie hid between my feet for a couple minutes, until cat passed by, then darted after cat and hid in a cleft made by a horse hoof in the soft wet grass, kitty could not find him. and i had seen enough to know, he probably wouldn't.
mousie had survived his brush with death.
i turned to the instructor,
if anything ever has it sights on me to eat, i hope it just does it. i hope it doesn't play with me first.
she laughed and walked on. telling the girls, first chance she got about the cat and mouse.
we turned the horses out and i went to see him.
who else?
the one who delights me. the recipient of my scant affections. the one who warms my soul.
it's good to be recieved. that's the thing. so many things, people, horses are aloof. and of course, not everyone or thing can be an intimate, it's not healthy. but when there is that connection, that spark of ignition, it's wonderful.
and that i carry a pocket full of peppermints and carrots, doesn't hurt.
when i first gave bucky a peppermint, he smiled.
we'd never seen him smile and it wasn't a fakey, i'm prompted to smile smile either. it was a genuine, huzzah! good show smile.
so today, i had some peppermint flavored horse treats, just a few, and when i produced them, he smiled. many times. after every one but the last one. which i find fitting.
he latched on to my hair stick again, and i had to hold it because this time, he was going to take it and munch it down, but i need that stick to hold my hair, it matters to me.
maybe that's why he wants it.
it's something, to walk away from a horse and have him walk the fence alongside you as far as he can go and stand there watching you leave. it's hard to walk away from that.
i want to stay. but the demands on my time are not few. and with an adolescent who makes her own plans, it just means, i have to walk away and not linger long though i leave my heart when i go.
i'm ready for what's to come. excited about it. even when it is uncertain. even when it is a fool's dream. i'd gladly be a fool anyday, i've made no secret about that. i think fools may just have the most fun of all.
and i will hold my center and stand utterly still
so mousie can live another day.
this is a good day. one of many that promises to line up to the horizon beyond belief. i've known that all this year. it's a change of season. it's about time.
peace. out.
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