The Call of the Hills

There is nothing in this world that is quite as magical as viewing the world between the ears of a horse. I was riding my horse out in the park yesteday morning before church. Ellie is a "silly" paint mare that we have. I enjoy riding her but she does require a little attention while out since she appears to have ADHD (sound familiar?)

Since I just got home from 3 very intense days of lecture and testing on Footzoning, I was defintely lost in thought. I was making sure that I could call up all the information that I had received over the last bit. My mind was working overtime.

Out of nowhere, I heard another human voice, a male, who said "Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude on your space." I was startled and jumped at the sound of his voice. He was a runner out for an early morning run. I smiled at him and he commented on how nice it is to be out here alone in the hills with a lots of solitude. I couldn't have agreed more. How nice of him to apologize for intruding on my space. How awesome that he would even recognize that I was there to be "alone" with my horse, dog and thoughts.

I ended up taking a trail that my daughter, Brandilyn, would be happy if she never saw again for the rest of her life. It is called the Manzanita Trail and it is my favorite of all the trails in the park. It goes straight down for quite a ways and runs along a creek for a bit before it takes off and heads straight back up again. My horse was full of spirit and seemed up for the challenge.

I often vascilate as to whether or not it is appropriate for me to be out riding my horse early on a Sunday morning. My argument for the affirmative would be that I am able to meditate and appreciate this beautiful world that Heavenly Father has created for us. I am also able to focus on the things that I am so grateful for. It is so easy when it is spread out in front of me in a way such as this.

I look forward to Brandilyn and Dave coming here for a visit. Dave is, hands down, my favorite trail riding partner. He loves the adventure and hears the call of the hills just as I do. I am hoping that Dave has been studying his map for a new adventure for us to go on. We got in a lot of trouble from Skip and Brandilyn last time we went but we promise to be a little more responsible this next time. Maybe they will go with us???

So, until next Sunday, I will have the memories of this ride and the anticipation of another trail riding adventure to keep me alive. After all, there are few things in this world that make me feel as "alive" as when I am bonding with these magestic creatures that we call horses.

Age is nothing but a state of mind. . . .

How Old Are You?

Personally, at this moment,
I have no idea how old I am.
I do remember a few milestone birthdays -
You know, 18, 21, 40 . . .
But in my head, nothing ever changed.
I keep wondering
When everyone is going to catch on
To the fact that for the last thirty years
I've been masquerading as an adult.

Perhaps we are, like the old saying goes,
"Only as old as we feel."
In that case,
I'll stay lost in my bewilderment . . .
'Cause really, life is what we make it, and
Age is nothing but a state of mind.
-Suzy Toronto

This is totally me! I must be about 17 or 18 years old, I guess. Yes, I have been masquerading as an adult and, actually, I think everybody that knows me well knows that I have been. I am trapped in a body that is much older than my mind. Heck, my 19 year old daughter is much older than I am.

I have heard that our souls are at different levels of progression. My soul is a very young soul and Brandilyn, Skip and Robbie all have much more mature and older souls. Brian and I are stuck in this teenager stage. I, personally, love it. It suits me. I NEVER want to grow up and I won't! So, Brian, let's rock on!

Let Go!

My yoga instructor walks around the room as we are all in meditation quietly giving us instructions. She tells us to raise the crown of our head toward the sky and sink our tailbones deep into the earth. Let your shoulders glide down your back as you let your spine grow tall. She then says, "Just let go. Let go. Let go." So, what does that mean to "let go"?

I decided to meditate on this idea for a bit and realized that it isn't just the physical, although that is a great start. Letting go of the tightened muscles immediately releases the areas we are trying to target at any given time. That in and of itself was an amazing discovery for me.

I, then, explored other areas of my "universe" and realized that, wow, this is HUGE! If there was someway that I could let go of the chatter (or chitra in my yoga world) in my mind, I was able to access the areas that held vast amounts of information that I have taken in over the years. I have been so numbed by the constant flow of "chitra" that I have always thought I had no "memory" capabilities!

So, here I am, off to Vegas to commence my testing for Footzoning. I want to be able to do this Footzoning so bad but was struggling with retaining the mountains of information that are required for certification. Now, with my new secret super power, I am able to tap into the information that I have been taking in these past few months. We will see how this new power works.

Goodbye chitra! Hello smart me! Wish me luck as I "let go"!

Grandma's Got it Goin' On!

I love this picture. Why? I will tell you.

I grew up in a home where we had no extended family. My dad (who didn't live with us) was an only child and my mother, who was born and raised in England had no family around except her brother who we didn't really interact with until I was well into my high school years. There were no grandparents, uncles, aunts or cousins in my upbringing.

Last year, Skip's whole family, with the exception of Taylor in Curt's family and Keith's whole family, were able to go on a Mexico cruise together. On one particular day, we all went out on an excursion while Skip's dad stayed on the ship with Courtney and Jacob. We went on a tour of the city of Mazatlan (I think that was where it was) and spent the whole day out and about. We saw a whole different side of Grandma. She was funny and really seemed to be trying to "kick it" with all of us - kids and grandkids. She had us all laughing.

I have never known that kind of family bonding before in my life. I loved it. Anyway, we took this picture overlooking the city at the beginning of our day and it will always serve as a sweet reminder of the kind of grandma I want to be - fun, loving, and not afraid to show my true colors!

Time Marches On

So back when I was a kid there was a song called "Cat's in the Cradle" by Cat Stevens. It kind of goes along where a kid is always trying to get his dad's attention to play with him all throughout his childhood. The last verse of the song is where the dad calls his son up at work one day and wants to finally spend time with him. Of course, the son is too busy with the demands of work and family and says "we'll get together soon, Dad".

The reason I said this is because I thought of that song today when I was talking to Brandilyn on the phone. We were talking for a few minutes while she was painting her new store. Someone walked into the store and she said "Gotta go, Mom." It was one of the first times that has ever happened to me. She has ALWAYS had time for me and now she's busy. Unfortuantely, I'm still in that whirlwind life with the kids here at home so I guess I'm gettin" what I'm givin".

I hope that she can look back on her childhood and have fond memories of SOME time we spent together. I miss her so much and wish time could stand still or even reverse a little so that I can grab some of those days when she was so young and I was her hero.

Jamin'

Yesterday my friend, Nancy, gave me a jar (unlabeled) of boysenberry jam. For my birthday, my daughter Brandilyn also gave me a jar of special jam - I think Huckleberry. Anyway, I have hoarded these two jars. I am hiding them and using them for my own selfish, personal pleasure. As my whole wheat English muffin is warming in the toaster, I am giddy with anticipation of how it is going to glide down my throat with that delicious jam spread liberally atop.

As I sit here at my computer enjoying my guilty indulgence, I have to ponder . . . am I wrong in keeping this decadence to myself? Can this relate to other aspects of my life? Do I keep what is good to myself and not share it? Does this make me a self centered and selfish individual? On some levels the answer would be yes. But then there is always the question of what my obnoxious teenage boys would do to my little stash of heaven. So when that little fact is thrown into my equation, I have to rethink my answer.

So . . . YES!!! YES!!! YES!!! I am selfish and self-centered and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! I LOVE BEING SELFISH. I LOVE BEING SELF-CENTERED! I will NEVER, NEVER, NEVER share my jam. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever!

Oh, sorry, I got carried away. Was this really about a English muffin and jam?

Another "Aha" Moment

Yesterday I spent 2-1/2 hours at my Footzoning class craming information into my brain. Anatomy is not my strength but I am discovering that I can actually do this school thing and I'm not all bad at it. I have my mid-term testing in Las Vegas next week and I'm supposed to know so much information. I'm a little overwhelmed. I'm doing okay until Linda, the woman who is taking this class with me, comes. She is so stressed out over this that I find myself feeding off of her. I have to remind myself to calm down and just focus on my own learning. I am also learning that if I can let go of the "chatter" in my brain it can actually maintain some small amount of information. Amazing that I have waited 50 years to come to this realization.

To think that maybe a year from now I COULD actually be certified to do Footzoning is pretty exciting. I really am anxious to get all this "textbook" stuff behind me and actually start fondling feet (I know, who would have thought . . .). To be even close to the level that my coach, Lezlie, is a worthy goal I have.