A Good Reason to Quit

    Looking out the window I saw the green pickup truck pull in with the practice's biggest Nubian goat patient, sort of surf-balancing in the back.  Nubie, the goat, weighs in close to 250 pounds.  He was coming in for his routine pedicure.  Normally, Nubie sees our other doctor but on this day she was working in our southern office.  I told the doctor to forget about using his rose pruners which he normally uses for trimming goat hooves.  I told him to get out his horse hoof nippers and rasp.  I proceeded to tell him that we usually make Nubie lay down for his hoof trim as opposed to trying to pick each foot up at a time like we normally do for goats.  He gave me a raised eyebrow and the "okay Margaret" look but when he watched the gargantuan goat stomp into the barn he began to nod. 
   We led Nubie into a stall and he cooperated by laying down nice and calm.  In between trimming his hooves the doctor had to stop to roll up his sleeves.  As Nubie's owner and I pinned him down we chatted a bit.  His owner told us how Nubie has a very irritating paper eating addiction. 

This is my last bag I swear.  Tomorrow I will never eat paper again. 

  He said Nubie will assault the paper recycling bin, pigging out on its contents until it's empty.  But, he explained, Nubie has been plagued with a new addiction.  He picked up the nasty habit of smoking cigarettes.  He said that if someone walks past his farm and Nubie catches a whiff of some second hand smoke it makes him crazy.  He will charge the smoker down, head butt them, tear the cancer stick out of their hands and swallow it while it's still burning. 


Gotta light?

   The owner doesn't quite know what to do about it.  A 250 pound goat mowing people down to bum a smoke is a bit of a liability.  I told him that Nubie could quite possibly be the next big quit smoking method.  Some people quit by hypnosis why not quit by a monster goat chasing them down, running them over, ripping the bad habit right out of their bare hands with his teeth, chewing the flaming addiction right in their face, then spitting the slobbery tobacco cud back into  their faces.  I bet it would cause enough night terrors to convince them never to want to smoke again.
   As for trying to get Nubie to kick the habit...

What?  You want my ID?   I just ate it.  Of course I'm over 18!  Look at my beard.
 

...the doctor recommended the patch.

Thanks for reading!  Happy Birthday to my Mom!  I love you!
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Copyright (c) 2012 Jacksonhillhorseygirl.com October 24, 2012

Imperfection

     I skipped my lunch so I could leave work an hour early and head to the beach with Cindy and the horses.  It was a little cloudy when I left the office but still nice enough.  At the ranch I headed to the pasture to catch Autumn as a fog began to slither over the mountains.  By the time we got back to the barn the fog had suffocated any sight beyond six feet, dripping out doubt of whether or not our trip to the beach would happen.  No news was good enough to send Autumn and myself muddling our way to Cindy's house down the road.  Sure enough, there she was with the back of the trailer open with her horse Syria waiting inside for Autumn to join her.  Cindy and I just shrugged a "we'll see" look at each other and headed to the sea.
     The windshield wipers squeaked out a hint that this may be an abrupt, wet, walk on the beach.  When we pulled into the parking lot the fog lifted.  The fog stopped at the edge of the parking lot, not daring to cross over the sand.  We unloaded the girls and walked along the water's edge as shy blue colors peaked at us through the clouds.  Autumn insisted on walking in water deeper then my boots would cover, so I threw her lead rope over her back and let her follow her own song. 

 



     She flowed in and out of the water stopping once and a while to look back at me when she got out to where the waves were breaking.  She came out of the water towards me with a twinkle in her eyes. She splashed her mane into the wind and took off cantering and kicking down the beach.  Eventually she stopped and I eventually caught up to her. 


What took you so long?

       Looking quite pleased Autumn decided to walk with me over the reflected sky in the wash of the sea.  I became lost in the pleasure of not thinking when after a bit I noticed that I was walking alone again.  Behind me Autumn had stopped.  I called to her and she looked down and back up to me.  When I made it up to her she lowered her muzzle to the sand to a crushed up sand dollar.  I gave Autumn's halter a tug to get her moving again but she wouldn't budge. 

    Once again she pointed at the broken little thing on the ground and gave me one of those Autumn looks.

  I bent down and picked it up.  Sure it wasn't perfect but Autumn had chosen this little gift for me.  Standing there, on that gray day streaked with bewildering glimpses of blue above, as my merry injured horse splashed around in the sea and brought me a gift of a little broken sand dollar I saw the beauty and perfection in imperfection. 

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Copyright (c) Jacksonhillhorseygirl.com October 17, 2012

A Masterpiece

     Life has felt a bit heavy the past few weeks.  Autumn's diagnosis has been slowly crushing  the positive thoughts right out of me.  Everyday issues have been swarming incessantly through my head stalking me into sleep at night.  Mornings have found me unrested under the cloak of darkness that fall has spread across the land.
     The night sky with its exhausted stars met me as I left the house in the morning.  I turned the lights on in the barn and woke up the sleepy blinky eyed horses.  I tossed them some hay to keep them quiet as I set up their pens for the day that would eventually come.  I grumbled around connecting and dragging hoses to the empty water troughs in the pens that I had to scrub out and fill with a flash light clenched in between my teeth.  As they filled I bitched my way back and forth to the barn setting out hay and dragging the hose to the next trough.  I didn't waste anytime stargazing as I rushed to get everything done before I had to get to my real job eight o'clock. 
     I arrived at the last water trough that was two minutes from being full.  Great! Two minutes wasted when I could've haltered up a horse and walked them out here in time to turn off the hose.  My mind bitching suddenly got interrupted by the hooting owl in the fir tree behind me.  The rhythm of his song soared through me. It took possession of my breathing, familiarizing it with the cadence of his lullaby.  A calm settled over me and I opened my eyes to what was in front of me.  A crooked crescent moon smiled as it rose to start its day beside me.

     The darkness began to fade as the sunrise shook out it's first morning light.

   Drowsy plum and magenta clouds enveloped the vanishing crescent moon in its light. 

 As I watched the sky paint itself in front of me a shooting star flamed across the sky. 

Then, I finally got it. 

This is life.  This is what the world does.  It's not all about work.  It's not life testing your patience.  It's not about bills or shopping or not having.  The sun wakes up everyday.  The wind blows.  The rain falls.  The waves break.  The rivers flow.  Night falls. That's all that really happens.  The rest is created.  Drama in my life is what I let it be.  I dropped the hose and got Autumn out of her stall. Together we painted ourselves into masterpiece happening around us in simple happiness.

Thanks for reading!  If you would like to leave a comment or would like to be added to my mailing list, please contact me at Jacksonhillhorseygirl@aol.com.   Please feel free to pass this on to your friends.

Copyright (c) 2012 Jacksonhillhorseygirl.com October 3, 2012