Random Friday

1.  Last weekend, we had rain; a smidge more than 7 inches of the wet stuff in two and a half days.  The first day, the ground just soaked it up, drinking thirstily after the long dry summer.  There were a few heavy downpours, but mostly the rain just fell steady all day and all night.  By Sunday, the streams were running and the pond started to fill.

2.  The rain brought the Canada geese as well.  As we did chores in the morning, I heard them honking overhead and then they landed in the field behind the barn.  I'm hoping for the return of our duck pair as well.  They spent all of last winter in the donkey pasture.

(photo from California Fall Color website)

3.  Saturday, we had a break between rain systems of about an hour.  We took Pistol and Lucy to the fenced arena so they could blow off some steam.  Lucy walked beside me quietly until she saw the arena gate.  Her head went high, her tail lifted, and her feet pranced.  When we went into the arena, she spun away from me, dropped her head, and the second the halter was removed, she was off like a shot.  They rolled in the wet sand, got in a few good bucks and ran. Soon, Pistol was happy to look for stray blades of grass while Lucy continued to gallop, slide, and blow like a steam engine.  After 30 minutes, we put them back in their stalls and gave Flash and Tex a turn.  Tex got Flash going -- and Flash took it from there; herding Tex, bucking, rearing, and squealing like a six year old.   In his younger days, Flash was quite the squealer; sounding more like a pig than a horse.

(photo from California Fall Color website)

4.  Brett was able to take the horses back to the pastures Monday afternoon; when the clouds left and the sun returned.  Jackson remains in the covered round pen attached to the barn.  He seems content, looking out the window at the boys in their pasture and standing at the door for treats.  His feet are dry -- I'm hoping to get through the winter without any abscesses.  There is more rain in the forecast for early next week so I don't see pasture time in his near future.

5.  The road I take to the highway from our house winds through a narrow canyon, following a seasonal stream.  There are flashes of orange and red in the trees along the road, and in one section, bigleaf maples rise on either side and then touch their branches above the road. The leaves are the size of dinner plates and sulfur yellow.  Although the section is in deep shade, I squint my eyes at the brightness of the leaves and reach for my sunglasses.  I want to plant a few by our largest stream; they are my favorite fall tree.

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