I didn’t see the email until later that day, but my friend came to the back door around 9:30 am. It was Friday and I was tired from a long work week. I had decided to stay home from work that day. Owning your own business has some advantages, however, that kind of a perk is not used often. I was tired mentally…we had been through a long cold winter stint with no work days off, with the exception of a virus that hit nearly everyone a person could know. And that didn’t count, to me, as time off. I looked awful, in a pair of loud pink pajamas, a sweatshirt, unruly hair and a cup of coffee held tightly in my hand.
“Knock, knock, knock.” I looked out the back door seeing a flash of my friend Keith moving from the back door to the garage door. He definitely is a persistent, one of a kind friend. Kind hearted, all cowboy and can move from one thing to the next like a jack rabbit on a crisp spring morning.
As I answered the door he walked in saying, “Did you get my text?”. “Um no…”, I blurted out along with, “I really look bad today.”
“Come on, get yourself ready to ride, we are leaving in 30 minutes.” My reaction was something like, ”Im not sure, I’m so tired today,” and, “Is it cold out?”
“No,” he said, ‘well it’s a bit nippy in the woods, about 44 degrees, but do you want to go? Get yourself a strong coffee to take with you and let’s get going.” For a moment I thought I cant, then I thought… I really needed this. I don’t know when we will have another ‘warm’ day for a long time.
We live nearly across the street from the great Oak Openings Metropark. From the time I was a child, I loved the area. Pioneers named this area Oak Openings as most of the park in an oak savanna ecosystem with wetlands and vegetated dunes. The sandy areas have been known as one of the ‘200 Last Great Places on Earth’.
Who would not want to ride horses through that wooded, trailed area?
I was quickly putting on layers of clothes, finding warm hiking socks and stuffing hand warmers in my pockets, just incase either one of us got too cold. I shoved my coffee mug, containing a freshly made shot of espresso and coffee, into my beloved hand made boot purse. I was seriously tired and thought it would be the best ‘staple’ to take along. Grabbing my hooded coat, a scarf and gloves, out the door I went.
At the barn, not far from the house, Keith already had Baxter and Greyson tied, saddled and ready to go. Thankful beyond words that he did all the work, I felt so spoiled and grateful to him for helping me to get out and go.
The crisp morning had the horses pawing and ready to leave. Thick coats puffed up around the saddle blankets and girths. Keith was looking for a quick pair of reins without success and grabbed 2 lead lines instead. Looking at me he shrugged his shoulders and hooked them on Baxters bit – ‘there, that works” He said. I tethered my boot purse to my trail saddle – hot coffee in tow and we were in our saddles before I knew it.
Keith hails from Georgia and his southern draw still resides with him. One time he was talking all about bells out back, getting the bells up front and putting bells out. I finally stopped him and said I was totally confused. Apologetically, he said, “ba-els, baa-els…”, “Oh my goodness, you mean bales, round bales of hay.” I laughed so hard. That’s just how Keith is – funny, rugged and going a mile a minute. But make no bones about it, he knows horses. He can smoke a cigarette, hold a can of soda and stop a horse from bucking all at the same time never spilling a drop.
Keith and our family became friends through a good and faithful Ranger from the park. Lora told us he could help with the farm and knew horses. She was right, we all became friends and ride together wherever we get the change. Good friends like this are invaluable, hard to come by and true treasures.
We rode a short distance by the road to our horse trail entrance into the park. All the while, Keith was talking and waking me up. And not just from being tired, but from being too long in the office without a break, from too much stress and too much everything.
The morning air made my cheeks cold, but the whole time my heart was warmed by being able to ride once again. The tall pines and big oak trees loomed over us and one trail turned to another. One story lead to another and each horse did there job, listening and carrying us through the woods. I was no longer tired, I was engaged in the ride and the conversation.The further we rode, the more I could feel layers of heaviness leaving me. That’s just how it works when you ride.
After deciding to turn around I believe we both engaged in conversation to the point that Keith looked around and said, “Are we lost?”. I looked around and said, ‘I don’t know.” But the further we rode we realized we were on our path. That is a sign of a good ride, I call it being in bliss. Losing track of time and losing oneself in the moment.
We switched horses after a bit. Greyson had what Keith called the ‘homeward bound’ mentality, when a horse feels good and his compass says we are headed home. He gave me the opportunity to ride Baxter who was more relaxed and I was appreciative. Methodically, after about 2 hours, we wove our way back to the road, down the driveway and back to the barn.
We unsaddled the horses and put them back in their pastures, placed the saddles back on their racks and hung the bridles. Keith had to leave and I needed to catch up on writing.
I never did drink that coffee on that ride. It was not needed, the ride took care of everything.
I pulled out my phone when I came into the house and looked at my messages. “Get dressed your riding in 30 min ;). And I answered, “I love your last text, I might have to save it…. Thank you for today.“
