We are now half way through the year and almost half way through the sixth month. It's been a little over a month since my last post, and what a month it has been!
As my family and friends know, I have always loved horses and have never missed an opportunity to ride. That is until my back problems got serious enough that I could no longer comfortably or safely ride. It has been close to 15 years since I have been on horseback, but, with Mountain Man's encouragement, I got back in the saddle again! It was, at the same time, one of the scariest and also one of the most thrilling things that I have done in a long while. Because of the nerve damage in my back and legs, I quickly found out that my legs are not nearly as strong as they once were. Maintaining correct posture and stance in the saddle was incredibly difficult. So not to embarass myself, Mountain Man and I waited til the stable was closed for the day to take my ride. The horse that Mountain Man selected for me was Chubby Checkers. He was chosen because of his smoothness, which he was incredibly smooth. He also is a little on the impatient side, not wanting to stand and wait while I refamiliarized my body to being on horseback. Needless to say, most of my adjustments were made while on the trail. The land that the trails are on at the stable is some of the most beautiful land in this part of Georgia. There is so much to look at and take in that I had to keep reminding myself to pay attention to what I was doing since it is no longer natural for my body to just settle in and ride without any conscious effort. We quickly found that the beautiful mountain trails weren't going to work for me. With not much leg strength, I was going to be relegated to flat land trails which have a beauty all their own. Crossing streams and meadows, we were able to enjoy the mountain views all around us. Since it was after hours, all of the horses had been turned out for the night. As we went further on the trails, we would come across a few horses here and there and since they are trained to follow the trails with their pack, even though they were "off duty", they just followed in line behind us. Before the ride was through, instead of just our two horses, we now had close to a dozen horses on the trail with us. It was quite a sight! As our ride came to an end, we approached the gate for the stable. When we went back to the barn to dismount, we looked back and the rest of the horses were still standing at the gate waiting patiently for their friends. After taking their saddles off and giving them a good long drink of water, we walked our horses back over and through the gate. There they met up with their friends and went off into the forest for their own adventures in the night. Even though I will never be able to ride like I once could, I'm glad that I took the chance and now know that I will be able to join Mountain Man for an occasional ride off into the sunset.
The first week of June, I was Ohio bound. The token son had business in his Atlanta office and when he was ready to return to Ohio, he got me a ticket and I flew back with him. I was blessed to spend a week with the Grands just being Bhakti. I had no one or nothing pressing me for my time. Whether it was just sitting watching cartoons with them, reading books, or going for walks, they had my undivided attention, and I theirs. I was also able to spend a great deal of time with my Middle Chile and Daughter in Love. The time with Middle was especially good since she had already closed out the teaching year, finished her first year of her master's program and the church choir that she directs was already on their summer hiatus. For her, all the stressers were gone and her time was her own which made for an awesome visit. The highlight of my trip was getting to attend my oldest grand's first dance recital. What a joy it was to see her and all of her fellow students nervously walk onto the stage and wait for the music to start. After the first few beats of the song, you could see her nerves disappear and see her get lost in the dance. What a beautiful thing to see all of those little people find their joy in moving with the rhythm of music. Dancing has always been one of my great loves in life. From a young age, learning to do the Polka with my dad in our living room to imitating the June Taylor dancers on the Jackie Gleason show and then as I got older learning the newest dance steps in front of the TV with my friends watching Band Stand and Soul Train. Music and dance have always freed my soul and brought me great joy. Just ask anyone who has ever attended a wedding reception with me. I'm the first one on and the last one off of the dance floor and will drag everyone that I know out there with me! All of the Chillin' are great dancers too. When they were young and money was tight, me and Mountain Man would have our own personal dances on Saturday nights. We would dance together with all of the Chillin until we were too tired to dance another step. Now it warms my heart to see my Token Son with his wife and the Grands along with my Middle Chile all dancing together in his living room. The songs are different, but the love and joy that fill that house when the music starts are the same.
After the week in Ohio that went way too quickly I was back on a plane heading south. I will admit, I was a little nervous flying into Atlanta alone. The last time that I had flown into Atlanta was when I was 16 and it was a whole other animal then! I was pleasantly surprised at how easy the airport is to navigated. Token Son had shown me around the airport when we flew to Ohio, so, I was able to retrieve my luggage, purchase my Marta ticket and find my train to North Spring where I was being picked up by Mountain Man with no difficulty. After all of the horror stories you hear, I was pleasantly surprised at the ease of it all and won't hesitate to travel alone through there again.
On Sunday, one of our new friends at the stable had a graduation party for her beautiful daughter at Lake Chatuge. The weather was picture perfect and so was the company. We had a wonderful picnic and then they rented two pontoon boats. We rode around on the lake all afternoon taking in the breathtaking combination of mountain views along with a crystal clear mountain lake. When you combine the food, views and wonderful people, it was a perfect day and again another reason to count our blessings. I'm sure that there aren't many places around with such awesome people. People who are not only coworkers, but have quickly become family. We are truly blessed and until next month, I pray that you will also realize and appreciate all the blessings in your life.
