This has been one long, bitch of a cold, grey and snowy winter. Nine months of winter make you second guess what seemed like a great decision to move from a place of sunshine and flowering trees in April to the Northern Rockies.
Then there are weekends like this past one, where it all makes sense. Mother Nature smiles at us for two consequetive days in a row, on a weekend no less, and being in Montana is magical. The sun came out on Saturday and our garden is now planted and taking root. I have the daily pleasure of looking out my window into the garden and knowing that I am feeding it as much as it feeds me. It's a REAL garden this year. Rows rather than clusters. I learned alot from my attempt last year to grow things. For the next three months, I will sit in front of my garden with my morning coffee and revel in the fact I am growing something and it feeds my soul. This is Montana. Mother Nature and all her wonders and sometimes bad attitude lives in Montana.
Then there are the horses. And cowboys. And enough testosterone to get me through meopause. Sunday we herded horses. With vehicles. Not a saddle pony or cowboy in sight, just the four of us: Jeff, Chuck, Monica and myself running a herd of at least 50 head of horses off 2000 acres and into 90 acres. Holy guacamole toledo what a ride! This is Montana at its most believable. Montana is where the rubber hits the road and you'd better be able to shake it off and get 'er done.
Monica drove the truck, Jeff drove Louise and Chuck and I rode the buggy. At 50 miles an hour over rises that you know are a straight drop down. You have to go fast; gettimg caught up in a wash or gopher hole makes for a very bad day. It reminded me of flying in a hot air balloon over Valley of the Gods in Monument Valley. I got to crew as a volunteer, which means you can fly for free. It also means if that balloon goes down, you're carrying that Gondola for miles to the closest road. I never had to carry a gondola out, thank goodness and the flight was breathaking. I didn't want to deal with Chuck if that buggy got stuck, so I hung on for the ride and boy howdy, it rocked!
Literally, it rocked. Riding in that buggy with Chuck was like flying in an airplane; I know I am personally willing that plane to take off safely, and then willing it down safely. I was willing that buggy to stay upright as we took the washes at full speed with no sense of what's coming up. Well, I had no idea of what was coming up. Chuck was been working this land for years and knows where every wash and gopher hole could be. He was merciless with the gopher holes. Hit one of those at 50 mph and that makes for a bumpy ride. He did listen to me a couple times when we climbed a wash that was straight down and straight up that it might not be a good idea to give it a go. Whew. I was riding that buggy like a bike or a horse-lean into it, hold on and go.
And then we found the herd. 50 head with at least 5 foals. Running. Full on galloping across acres and miles. All in the same direction. A white mare (or the bitch as Chuck refers to her), has her own ideas of where she wants to go and why, and she just pisses Chuck off. She did fine yesterday and stayed with the herd. She pisses him off, but she's been pissing him off for years. I think he keeps her for just that reason. Chuck is the horse whisperer and likes to act pissed off. Gotta love a guy who threatens the cannery one minute and then goes on and hands out cake the next.
Seeing those ponies running as we are driving paralel to them, was fricking unbelievable. The sound of all those hooves, at full speed over the sound of that buggy being floored to keep up with them, was full on Montana without the preconceived cowboys, sorta. 50 head running on a ridge against the backdrop of the Absorkee mountains with snow in the high country, and a crystal clear blue sky almost made me cry because of the beauty and moment.
I'll always be the "east coast girl", but Oh Montana, I can't believe this is my life. It's hard and its wonderful. I am living an adventurous life and holding on with both hands!
Thanks for reading!
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