Last week my anxiety was high as I anticipated spending the weekend up at the Coyote Mountain Ranch with trainers Janet and Robert Phinney. I have been watching them for some time, stalking really, and impressed with the work that they were doing through The Horse Fellowship. I was excited for the lessons that I thought both Sis and I would learn as we continue to try to work as a team. My apparent charm and constant whining of “You are not the boss of me,” for some odd reason wasn’t working. And, in order for us to move through to the next phase of our relationship, I needed to find a way in which to convince her that I was worthy of her complete trust.. THIS; I had determined was to be THE weekend.
I have made a commitment in my life to wake every day and invite God to bring into my life that which he ordained… and that in by doing so, I knew that he would equip me to handle all the the day would entail. There are days, I have to admit, I look straight up into the sky and ask, “REALLY?” and, I think I hear a subtle chuckle, and God saying, “yep, really” back. I then pull up my boots and deal….
This weekend…, the question REALLY…. didn’t even seem adequate. Of course, possibly because I was too busy hugging the toilet seat… of in my case, Sis’ feed bucket as Tom, Sis and I barreled down the highway. Half was between here and there, IT hit. Mantazooma’s Revenge.
Prior to leaving home, I felt… well off.. My back had been bothering me.. some.. and every now and again I would get a low grade head-ache and a cramp in my lower back. But, nothing I didn’t feel that I could ignore.. so I did. I don’t know why, there and then…. life decided to throw at me a migraine/vertigo nightmare, but it did, while my poor hubby held my hair back as a puked in the wind…..and Sis impatiently stamped her feet in the trailer behind. I could see Tom wondering what to do.. literally we were 1/2 way between home and Dayton.. do we continue and hope this would pass or go back home with our tails between our legs?
Of course we had to go on.. “SIS NEEDED THIS” I could hear myself cry, between the now dry heaves, as the world spun around me. All I really wanted to do was to lay down in the field and let the cool breeze blow past me… but, Sis’s insistence led me to the truck and back on the road with her now empty feed bucket as my necessity bucket.
As we pulled into my in-laws farm, I sheepishly dismounted from the passenger side of the truck as Tom lead me into the house and straight for the bathroom – me swerving like a drunken sailor while my mother-in-law looked on in concern.
I spent the next two full days in bed, with cold clothes, my bucket, and fresh breeze blowing through the opened windows. I had come for some very valuable lessons…. and left with some amazing lessons learned. They weren’t the lessons that I thought I would walk away with, but life changing all the same.
I learned that people love me, and will take care of me if I let them. It has been sometime since I have “needed” taking care of… or so I thought…. there is an amazing kindness in bringing someone a cold damp clothe over and over again, opening the windows so the breeze can help with the nausea, and not just anyone is willing to empty someones puke bucket. Nor does everyone have a Sister in law who will stop heaven and earth in her very busy, very hectic weekend to get me the best care ever. I also learned that Community still exists…. In just a few short steps my sister-in-law had me lined up with appointments with the local doctor, the town chiropractor – who dropped everything to adjust me. Not just once, but twice.
While they weren’t the lessons that I thought I would be learning this weekend… they were lessons learned.
A Cowgirl Called 