One Foggy Morning
One foggy morning I got up in the wee morning hours to drive the kids to their jazz band practise. The sky was clear and beautiful with sparkling stars (wait for it!). The 30 minute drive to school was quite pretty and even better I had managed to avoid any of the tailgating with lights on high beam in a jacked up truck Albertan drivers. Feeling that this was going to be a wonderful day, I decided to stop on my way home to pick up a load of water in the tank on the back of my truck.
Standing in the back of my truck holding the hose that was pumping out a tonne of water, the feelings of joyous wonderment began to dissipate as I watched a bank of thick fog come rolling across the landscape towards us. Moments later after I finished my fill and slowly pulled out of the water station in the midst of a deep fog, they slipped even further away as I slid on the road and realized that this was no ordinary fog but rather a freezing fog and the clear road was now coated in ice. Refusing to totally give up on my day, I thought to myself at least the extra weight on the back of the truck will help with traction and I will just pick my way along until I get home. Five minutes later I totally gave up on any warm feelings about the day with my brakes slammed to the mat, the truck chunking its ABS with all it had and sliding sideways down the road while a large buck ran at top speed toward the road right in front of my truck. As its head reached in front of my right headlight, I instinctually closed my eyes not wanting to see the actual impact...to see what happened to the deer, to see what happened to my truck, to see where we all ended up. Seconds later I cautiously opened my eyes as the truck came to a shuddering stop rocking back and forth with the sloshing of the water in the back. Out of the corner of my eye I caught a flash of white. It was the large tail of the deer raise in full flight as he bolted back across the field from whence he had come. There had been no bump. There had been no bang, There had been no thunk just the truck rocking back and forth in the middle of the road. I had no idea how that head had missed the headlight because my eyes were closed but there went my last feelings of goodwill towards the day.
"I have misunderstood you", I tell the Day, "and now I just want to go home and go back to bed and end this day"
Back in gear and picking my way along the icy road surrounded by pea soup fog, I noticed that all of the Albertans in big trucks with their lights on highbeams were now tailgating behind me. Good to see you fellas and no I am not going to go any faster because I am now officially having a bad day!
I was so relieved to pull into the lane. With my head down and intent on seeking the comforts of my pillow, I trudged out of the truck and started heading up the path through the forest to the house. A loud whinny stopped me in my tracks. That was odd. My horses make it quite clear to me on a daily basis that I am unnecessary to their existence. They are mares....need I say more?
I turned around and headed back down the path to the open yard from where I could see a bit of the winter pasture where the ladies resided. Have you ever tried to find a white horse in the fog? Not such an easy task! Misty neighed again. I answered squinting aimlessly into the fog "Where are you and why on earth on you neighing at me you independent obstinate old lady?" She neighed again. I squinted more and finally picked out two little black dots in the fog...her eyes. Once I had the eyes I
could make out the rest of her form. She was turned towards me, she was looking at me and she was neighing at me....and the other white horse was nowhere around her. "Where is Chinook?" I asked Misty. She turned and neighed in the direction of the forested area at the back of the field. I could only see the tips of the trees as the field is a large rolling landscape with pockets of trees, hills and valleys and the odd pond sprinkled throughout. Chinook has a penchant for these ponds. She also has a penchant for chasing wildlife. "I will be right back" I tell Misty. "I need my big boots for slogging through deep snow and my axe to either chop Chinook out of the frozen pond or beat off the cougar that she has decided to tangle with this morning. Have I told you yet how much I don't like this day?" She whinnied back at me...and then turned and whinnied at the back of the field. A few minutes later I stood next to Misty in my big boots with an axe slung over my shoulder and said "let's go find Chinook".
Misty led the way and I walked behind her. From time to time, she whinnied toward the back of the
field. With all the hills and valleys I could not see what Misty sensed back there. As we came to the
last hill, Misty let out another loud whinny. Suddenly Chinook exploded over the top of the hill pounding through the snow and the fog. Her head was up, her tail was up and she was snorting in triumph...over what I have no idea but she was pretty darn triumphant. Misty nickered at her and she trotted over to us. She had a wonderful tale to tell. I have no idea what it was but it satisfied Misty who looked at me and then turned to walk back to the water trough and hay rack at the front of the field. I followed along with Chinook trotting along behind me. Leaving the ladies munching on their hay, I trudged up to the house once again. Arriving at the house and putting my axe on the doorstep, I tell Austin and Daisy that I am so done done done with this day. "I am going back to bed before something else happens". With that my phone rang. A lady by the name of Amy who had a slightly automated tone to her voice imparted some news to me. I hung up the phone and turned to Austin and Daisy and said, "Good news! We have just won a cruise to the Bahamas!"
Looking out the window and laughing I realized it really was a wonderful day. You see somewhere out there is a deer still grazing in the forest. I have a fresh load of water at the house rather than
siphoning it off in a ditch somewhere with my truck on its side. I am not out in the field chopping Chinook out of a frozen pond with an axe or fending off a cougar with that same axe. And I have these horses who actually think I might be able to help them out from time to time. As I looked out the window, I could see the fog billowing and rolling around the trunks of the trees. It was quite spectacular. Turning to Daisy and Austin, I said "I think we should go for a walk in the woods on this beautiful day while we are waiting for our ship to come in."
Standing in the back of my truck holding the hose that was pumping out a tonne of water, the feelings of joyous wonderment began to dissipate as I watched a bank of thick fog come rolling across the landscape towards us. Moments later after I finished my fill and slowly pulled out of the water station in the midst of a deep fog, they slipped even further away as I slid on the road and realized that this was no ordinary fog but rather a freezing fog and the clear road was now coated in ice. Refusing to totally give up on my day, I thought to myself at least the extra weight on the back of the truck will help with traction and I will just pick my way along until I get home. Five minutes later I totally gave up on any warm feelings about the day with my brakes slammed to the mat, the truck chunking its ABS with all it had and sliding sideways down the road while a large buck ran at top speed toward the road right in front of my truck. As its head reached in front of my right headlight, I instinctually closed my eyes not wanting to see the actual impact...to see what happened to the deer, to see what happened to my truck, to see where we all ended up. Seconds later I cautiously opened my eyes as the truck came to a shuddering stop rocking back and forth with the sloshing of the water in the back. Out of the corner of my eye I caught a flash of white. It was the large tail of the deer raise in full flight as he bolted back across the field from whence he had come. There had been no bump. There had been no bang, There had been no thunk just the truck rocking back and forth in the middle of the road. I had no idea how that head had missed the headlight because my eyes were closed but there went my last feelings of goodwill towards the day.
"I have misunderstood you", I tell the Day, "and now I just want to go home and go back to bed and end this day"
Back in gear and picking my way along the icy road surrounded by pea soup fog, I noticed that all of the Albertans in big trucks with their lights on highbeams were now tailgating behind me. Good to see you fellas and no I am not going to go any faster because I am now officially having a bad day!
I was so relieved to pull into the lane. With my head down and intent on seeking the comforts of my pillow, I trudged out of the truck and started heading up the path through the forest to the house. A loud whinny stopped me in my tracks. That was odd. My horses make it quite clear to me on a daily basis that I am unnecessary to their existence. They are mares....need I say more?
I turned around and headed back down the path to the open yard from where I could see a bit of the winter pasture where the ladies resided. Have you ever tried to find a white horse in the fog? Not such an easy task! Misty neighed again. I answered squinting aimlessly into the fog "Where are you and why on earth on you neighing at me you independent obstinate old lady?" She neighed again. I squinted more and finally picked out two little black dots in the fog...her eyes. Once I had the eyes I
could make out the rest of her form. She was turned towards me, she was looking at me and she was neighing at me....and the other white horse was nowhere around her. "Where is Chinook?" I asked Misty. She turned and neighed in the direction of the forested area at the back of the field. I could only see the tips of the trees as the field is a large rolling landscape with pockets of trees, hills and valleys and the odd pond sprinkled throughout. Chinook has a penchant for these ponds. She also has a penchant for chasing wildlife. "I will be right back" I tell Misty. "I need my big boots for slogging through deep snow and my axe to either chop Chinook out of the frozen pond or beat off the cougar that she has decided to tangle with this morning. Have I told you yet how much I don't like this day?" She whinnied back at me...and then turned and whinnied at the back of the field. A few minutes later I stood next to Misty in my big boots with an axe slung over my shoulder and said "let's go find Chinook".
Misty led the way and I walked behind her. From time to time, she whinnied toward the back of the
field. With all the hills and valleys I could not see what Misty sensed back there. As we came to the
last hill, Misty let out another loud whinny. Suddenly Chinook exploded over the top of the hill pounding through the snow and the fog. Her head was up, her tail was up and she was snorting in triumph...over what I have no idea but she was pretty darn triumphant. Misty nickered at her and she trotted over to us. She had a wonderful tale to tell. I have no idea what it was but it satisfied Misty who looked at me and then turned to walk back to the water trough and hay rack at the front of the field. I followed along with Chinook trotting along behind me. Leaving the ladies munching on their hay, I trudged up to the house once again. Arriving at the house and putting my axe on the doorstep, I tell Austin and Daisy that I am so done done done with this day. "I am going back to bed before something else happens". With that my phone rang. A lady by the name of Amy who had a slightly automated tone to her voice imparted some news to me. I hung up the phone and turned to Austin and Daisy and said, "Good news! We have just won a cruise to the Bahamas!"
Looking out the window and laughing I realized it really was a wonderful day. You see somewhere out there is a deer still grazing in the forest. I have a fresh load of water at the house rather than
siphoning it off in a ditch somewhere with my truck on its side. I am not out in the field chopping Chinook out of a frozen pond with an axe or fending off a cougar with that same axe. And I have these horses who actually think I might be able to help them out from time to time. As I looked out the window, I could see the fog billowing and rolling around the trunks of the trees. It was quite spectacular. Turning to Daisy and Austin, I said "I think we should go for a walk in the woods on this beautiful day while we are waiting for our ship to come in."
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