vignette ~ The Trail Back

This is just so perfect Maggie thought as she stood on her tiny front stoop and looked out across the water. Mark, her husband of five months had gotten his dream job right after they returned from their honeymoon, and within three weeks they had packed up their apartment in Missoula, flown to Glasgow, and made their way to this tiny, little house on a loch in the wilds of Scotland.

She’d always been a mountain girl, hiking herself silly whenever she could talk someone into going with her, but she’d never seen anything like the mountains here. The mountains, the water, the solitude -- it was all so beautiful.

They found a storybook cottage, tucked away on a cliff above the loch on the edge of a forest which seemed to go on forever. It wasn’t that far to town, but they decided to keep their food supplies as well stocked as they could, and she had plans for putting in a garden next year in an overgrown area out back.

No one had lived in this place for a number of years but it was in good shape and perfect for the two of them. Last week she’d looked into the possibility of getting a horse to ride and wondered if it would be worth it to get a bunch of chickens. Even though she didn’t know anything about farming ways, it might be interesting to try and learn how to cultivate her own little piece of paradise.

Crocheting was a hobby she had a knack for and even though she had never tried to do any weaving, she had always wanted to and there was a shed out back which was pretty good size. It could accommodate a floor loom and with the large south-facing window and brick floor, the small stove would probably keep things warm enough in the winter. She would enjoy saving them money by making some of their clothes and bed furnishings.

She sighed, satisfied, and went back into the living room. There were wild flowers in vases atop the built-in bookshelves on both sides of the fireplace. When they were going through Ardentinny, they had passed a small sale and spied a beautiful old chair covered in brown corduroy which now rested comfortably by the door. There was a small couch, her grandmother’s rocker, and a round floral rug which filled the rest of the small room. The cut-glass windows above the bookshelves and the large triple-window in the front wall let in lots of morning light and made everything feel homey and cheerful.

The smell of the roast caught her attention and she wandered into the kitchen figuring everything would be ready by the time Mark got home. Two small salads were waiting in the frig and she was anxious to see what he thought of the salad dressing recipe she’d gotten from a book she found in the little attic.

Such a beautiful place she thought again as she set the table in the cozy nook just off the kitchen. She had positioned the rectangular table so they could both sit on the same side and watch the sun go down behind the trees. Occasionally deer would come out and that was fun to see but she knew it wouldn’t be fun if she got serious about putting in a garden. Deer would eat anything and everything down to the nubbins so she figured she was going to have to get a couple of books about building and maintaining a green house.

The sky was turning gorgeous shades of pink and fuchsia by the time she decided he had gotten held up somewhere, so she put her plate together, dipped some dressing onto her salad and sat down to enjoy the food and the sky. Two bunny rabbits hopped across the yard while a squirrel darted hither and yon, and a couple of small birds flitted around the bushes out by the shed. How did everything get so lovely?

The dressing was pretty tasty and the meat and vegetables were yummy, but night was closing in by the time she decided not to have any of the Dutch apple pie she’d made. That could wait until Mark got home. She cleaned up the dishes, put the food away, and sat down in the rocker with a warm throw and a good book.

After a little while she thought she heard a car coming up the gravel road, but when she put the book down to listen the sound was gone. She went right back to her mystery but a few minutes later another sound caught her attention. She couldn’t identify it and it didn’t continue, so she went back to her book.

Gradually she realized she was hearing bells ... occasional tinkles of bells, actually. She stopped her reading and listened, and it continued intermittently so she put the book down, draped the throw across her shoulders and stepped out onto the front stoop.

“Whoa,” she said in surprise, and then gently, “Well, hi there” as she went down the two steps and walked up to a huge white horse. Even though the sun had gone down hours ago, the stars were brilliant and it was easy to make out the ghostly white of the biggest horse she’d ever seen.

He stood still while she stretched out her hand, then moved his nose down into her palm. “Oh, you’re so soft,” she exclaimed as she reached up with her other hand and caressed his head. “Well, your nose is anyhow,” she chuckled softly. “Where did you come from, hmmm?” She looked all around the area, but didn’t see anything but shadows right about where they should be. “Are you lost, big guy?”

He snorted and shook his head back and forth, sending the two bells tinkling. “I’m not really sure what to do with you. I suppose I could get you a bucket of water but should you have that much? And I don’t have any horse food -- can you eat grass? Maybe I don’t want a horse after all,” she mused “‘cause I don’t know the first thing about them.” She frowned as she thought about it, but couldn’t help but smile when she looked at him again -- he was gorgeous.

“Well ... come on,” she said as she started around the side of the house. The horse followed right behind her which actually seemed a little spooky but she walked to the lean-to, which was destined to be turned into a garage, and spied the hay bale in the moonlight. “Oh, I forgot about that,” she said as she walked over to it and tried to figure out how to get some of the tightly packed hay loose.

“Maybe I better get your bridle off first. You can’t eat with that thing in your mouth can you? Actually, I may not be able to get this thing off,” she muttered as she tried to figure out what was what. But as she reached up, the horse put his head down and she took ahold of the bridle and the thing just seemed to slip right off. “Well, you’re going to have to be on your best behavior, because I don’t know how to tie you up or keep you in here. I guess you’ll be okay. You can’t very well come inside and sleep with me.”

He snorted and look around at the hay. “Okay, okay, I’m getting it.” She patted him on his rump as she snagged a bucket and filled it with water, then squinted at the four tools on the shelf before she picked up the wire cutters. “Lights in the lean-to moving to the top of the list,” she mumbled. After wrangling with the hay bale wire for a bit, she finally got it cut and pulled a big chunk of hay over beside the water.

“There!” she announced. “That’s the best I can do.” The horse looked at her and dipped his head in acknowledgment. “Gees,” she muttered softly, “if I didn’t know better I’d think you could understand me.” She sighed and shook her head and then explained, looking into his big beautiful brown eyes, “I have to go to bed. My husband must have gotten tied up somewhere and I’m pretty sleepy, so you keep an eye on things, okay?” She smiled up at him and reached up to touch his soft nose. “Goodnight, big guy,” she whispered. “Sleep tight.”

and the walls came a tumblin' down

we've been watching this tv series called Jericho.

i don't watch tv so i'm not familiar with what's playing these days, but this show is pretty good. well, let me qualify that -- the acting is decent and the premise is compelling, but some of the little stories are dumb and several of the characters are awful. e.g. the guy who was challenging the incumbent mayor should be SHOT. he's a terrible person. and the teen-agers need to grow up. and the idiot irs agent is a stupid bitch. but other than that, the main family is easy to watch (except for the jerk who's married to the doctor), the girlfriends are okay, and the black guy seems okay except that he may be one of the bad guys. eeuuuuuw.

at any rate, the library doesn't have it so we are having to watch it cd by cd through netflix. it's a curious thing to get caught up in, but then really -- what would you do if all the main cities were nuked and you had to try to survive?

shopp$ng

i just tripped across some web sites which can take some time to comb through ... www.surprise.com is interesting, and that lead to www.coolstuffcheap.com which was funkier. www.woot.com is always a good one and doesn't take long at all -- it only features one item each day!!

who can you trust?

that stress test -- the one where you're on a treadmill and it keeps going faster -- does it have a shut-off the user can push?

i remember my dad taking that test and suffering extreme pain. he said he told them but they wouldn't shut off the machine. i think he had a minor heart attack during the test and the people running it weren't paying attention. that's unconscionable.

i heard some guys talking about the test the other day, about how it's going very, very fast and then it goes faster.

screw it. some sadist thought up that test.

have they said i need to take the test? no, but it isn't ever going to happen. just like i refuse to do the coloscopy. people can die from that 'staying ahead of the game' procedure.

i've had cancer, chemo, a whole bunch of surgeries, and enough is enough. you don't have to take every single test they insist you do. educate yourself, then make your own decision.

last year, italy; this year, ireland

i can't say much because i don't want to steal his thunder, but My Younger Son's recent flight to ireland resulted in some unplanned-for activity. that's all i'll say until he's had a chance to fly home and write in his own blog (he has my blog threaded to his so it's possible his friends could read mine before he's had a chance to elaborate).

at any rate -- good grief! but excellent handling! more on this after he's done his own elucidating.

true crime -- small town beat

January 8: While on patrol an officer's attention was attracted to a column of smoke and the three kids running away from it. The trio was rounded up. In their haste to depart one of the boys had forgotten about the handful of fireworks sticking out of his pocket. He was taken into custody for possession of illegal fireworks and illegally discharging them within the city limits. The 14-year-old was released to his parent, sans explosives.

January 6: A person visiting a business at Semiahmoo called police to report men wearing camouflaged clothing hiding in a boat offshore, luring passersby and then attacking them with rifles. Responding officers determined that no crime was being committed. The aghast visitor was advised that ducks are in season. No crime.

January 5: Police were dispatched to a business' report of a large scary man yelling at their customers. Officers arrived and contacted the transient standing across the street. He explained that he had just been trying to pick up an employment application. Officers explained to him that his recent experience qualified him for a position as a jail inmate and offered him a ride out of the area. He declined the ride but agreed to work on his interviewing skills elsewhere.

just wondering

wondering about the nightmares i have from this monthly project at work which is so tangled and convoluted ...

wondering about My Younger Son's trip to ireland and if he's enjoying himself ...

wondering about my new grandaughter ...

wondering about my prescriptions and if they need to be adjusted ...

wondering about those canadians and why they can't seem to read road signs ...

wondering about nations who do not believe people are equal to each other and how that is going to affect this country since they seem to be moving here in droves ...

wondering about an obama/clinton ticket ...

wondering if i can just skip thursday and friday and go straight to saturday ...

da-de-dee

i've just had my morning cup of tea and i'm heading to the shower when a song title catches my eye: Goodbye Goldfish, Hi Piranha by Aluminum Group.

catchy, huh?! if i didn't know better i'd think it was a country/western song. but i (computer) listen to Low Mercury and the song has to be slow jazz. too bad i don't have time to hear it.