My Friend Wren

The Madster and I are out for a walk. It's a windy, snowy day on the last day of February, my Dad's birthday to be exact. The snow is blowing off the trees in sheets and periodically I pull my hood up to fend of the bursts of wind. Still, we both are enjoying the freedom of the countryside and continue on up the road. Up ahead I can hear the snowplow coming back down the Irish Line and beyond that, our neighbor Wren is out in his tractor plowing snow. Maddie eyes the tractor with interest and glances back at me now and then to make sure all was safe. Wren see's us and pulls the tractor off to the side and shuts down his tractor in order to chew the fat like we've done on many occasion as I've passed by his house on a walk. We've talked about everything from the weather, animals, our families and especially how the trainings going with the dog. Today as he shoves open his tractor door, he starts out the the conversation the same old way. "Well how are ya today Liz?" "Good Wren!" I reply, then I ask him how his heart is because in the fall he said he was waiting for a valve replacement. They were taking one of his out and replaceing it with a pig's valve. "Oh nothing wrong with my heart." he replies. But the next thing out of his mouth puts me in a state of shock. "Doc says I got the lung cancer and I got 6 months to live." Now what in Hell is a person supposed to say about that! "Geez Wren, that's too bad, how's Rose keeping?" My stomach drops like a stone, I want to say "Jokes on me right Wren?" But his liquid blue eyes are serious and the only thing I could think of to say was, "And there you are still smoking a cigarrette I see!" "Yep," says Wren, "Ain't nothing they can do for me, so I gots to enjoy something. I am 80 years old ya know!" "I guess so eh Wren?" I answer quietly. He's lost weight now that I look closer, and his skin looks thinner and I think to myself that he looks like my dad did before he passed away. But under his worn out old cap his eyes are still bright and the same twinkling blue as always and that comforts me. " I just gotta get out and get some fresh air." he says, "Or ya just give up. Well, gotta get back to my plowing. Have a good walk Liz." "Ok Wren, you take care and say Hi to Rose for me!" "Will do." He shoves the cigarrette back between his teeth, reaches out and pulls the tractor door shut and starts up the tractor. I give him a wave and then tell Maddie to come along and we head up the road to finish our walk. But the light step I was walking has now become heavy as I walk away from Wren's tractor in disbelief. I can't imagine walking up the road in the future and not seeing Wren out in his garden, or driving his tractor, or getting his winters wood ready for next winter. Not being able to stop and shoot the shit with him or him insisting I take home some fresh picked potatoes or beans from his lovely garden. But for now I'm going to not think about that and every chance I get, I'm going to make sure I stop and pass the time of day with my old friend. It's news like this that makes a person think. Lifes too short and this fact seems to be proven to us over and over again. So take it from Wren. Enjoy every day you have!

Kinley

She was never far from my side. My husband Don used to say she'd crawl up my ass is she was given half the chance. I used to laugh at this but somehow I do believe its true. Funny thing was I wanted a black and tan pup. Yep, not a blonde pup, the nice little female black and tan. But Don over rode me. "I want the blonde." he said. Maybe this is because he got stuck with a brunette for a wife and wanted to at least have a blonde bitch out of the deal! So I looked back longingly at the little black and tan and got in the car and drove home with Don's blonde.

I remember how tiny she was. Hailey had a little purple coat with a hood on it and when they were playing outside the pup would crawl into Hailey's hood to try and keep warm. We had to decide on a name. Hailey wanted Strawberry. No way in Hell was I going to lean out the door yelling "Here Stawberry, come girl!" I always wanted to name a dog Quill, but Don thought that was just as bad as Strawberry, so I came up with the name Kinley. I used to like the country singers the McKinley sisters so I shortened it up a bit and voila. Kinley, and it stuck. Except it was such a strange name people would call her Kingsly, Kinnlin, Margula, (not sure where that one came from) and of course I had to have a nick name so most of the time she was called Bin Bin. It suited her, what can I say!

As small as she was it didn't take her long to grow. She soon became very tall and lanky with the weirdest ears you'd ever see! They sort of stuck out like wings. Mom often thought she had greyhound in her but apparently she was just shepherd, lab, and collie. Somehow though, I think a hound got tangled up with her momma at some point cuz she sure had the attention span of a hound. Very short! And she trotted like a hound too. She had the most beautiful side stepping gait! Her and I used to walk. Up and down the Irish line we'd go daily which would be about 6 km's in total. She used to love to walk. She'd be outside mucking about and if I was getting ready to go for a walk she would know this and start running from door to door crying and prancing about until I came out the door. Man she'd drive me crazy with her foolishness, prancing and whining and jumping around till we got going. Then of course she'd be flying ahead because she was on the trail of something but she'd always come running back to make sure I was still with her.

I don't know how she survived as long as she did because my Dad ran her over with his golf cart one day, and if you've ever noticed, there's not much room under a golf cart. "God damned stupid dog" Dad would say. My son Randy also ran her over with the snowmobile. She'd run forever chasing us on the machines and one day she cut across in front of Randy and over her he went! He said it wasn't on purpose, but sometimes I wonder! Her and I have encountered many a critter on our walks. Many a bear, a deer, a racoon or two, but her favorites were the squirrels. She'd sit for hours under a tree waiting for a squirrel to come down it. Then the chase was on! My husband Don was working in the garage one summer day and the dog was barking and going crazy running around the garage. Don not having a long fuse temper wise promptly stuck his head out the door to tell her to shutup only to have a squirrel almost run across his face. Kinley was chasing the damned thing around and around the garage and it was running sideways on the garage doing laps!

One of my favorite memories of Kinley is when we used to have a sand pile in the back yard. The kids had all their trucks and toy horses out there and would play for hours. Kinley loved to dig and if you said Digadigadig, she'd go crazy digging in either the snow or the sand. This one day both Randy and Hailey were digging holes in the sand and right between them was Kinley. She'd be digging away, stop in mid dig to lean over and look to see how the kids holes were coming! Then she'd continure gleefully digging hers! But don't touch her hole or she'd show you every tooth in her head! Which had many! She'd never bite, but Randy used to like to tease her by sticking his foot near her hole and she'd bite warningly at his shoes! This is mine! Step back from the hole! She never got many car rides because she was so big , when a truck used to go by she'd leap menacingly at the window to get the truck and you could literally feel the car sway.

Her and I used to love to spend time at the pond below the house. She could swim in the summer and explore all over it in the winter. On a warm winter day we would sit on Cakers Island, basking in the warm rays of the sun, letting the world go by. Sometimes we'd be accompanied by the cats Willy and Lilly but usually it was just me and Binnie.

She was hard on herself. After years of chasing snowmobiles in deep powder at full speed, her hips started to give out. We stopped letting her out when the snowmobiles were running because you couldn't make her stop chasing them, sore hips or not. Our walks started to get shorter as she started to hurt. And I started to get fatter. But we did manage to go on short walks , mostly to the pond just to sniff around and enjoy the peace together. She surprisingly tolerated the new pup Maddie we brought home. I don't think she liked us much for it but she took it in stride like everything else. Not long after we got the pup, I was sitting on the couch petting the two of them because you couldn't pet one without petting the other, and I found a lump on Kinley's side. I slid my hand up to her neck and found a huge mass of lumps from one side of her neck to the other. I felt sick! When the hell did these appear! But we decided not to take her out to the vet because by now her hips were really bad and she was starting to show her illness. We decided to try to nurse her through the winter best we could. But this was not to be. About a month after Christmas the weight started falling off her and her bowels were giving out on her. We came to the decision we weren't being fair to her anymore.

I made the awful phone call out to the vets and my friend Deb made the appointment. She's been a big help thru the whole ordeal may I add. I wasn't able to take Kinley that awful day. I had to work and couldn't get out of it. So poor Don had to do it. The night before though, I took her for a walk down to the pond. The silly old goof was in the lead the whole way to the pond. Trotting along, tongue lolling out, sniffing at all the good scents a dog loves to smell. We walked across the pond in the moonlight. It was cold and the stars were shining down on us. And we just let her do her thing which was sticking her head under the fresh snow, sniffing under sticks, checking out the deer and coyote tracks left behind.. and then we headed back up the trail together for the last time. I'll miss you Kinley! Be good old girl.

Randy's First Fire Call.

My eyes flew open to a high pitched alarm going off! "Was that a fire call?" I ask my snoring husband Don beside me. My question brings only a half hearted snort and then silence until our bedroom door flies open and our 18 year old son Randy bursts in and exclaims "Fire call!" And something else my half asleep mind didn't comprehend, and he ran out the front door. Started his truck up and roared out the driveway. "Drive carefull!" I yelled after him but all we could hear was the droan of his motor as he rounded the curve in Guilford. I quickly said a little prayer asking the good lord to keep my son safe and then lay there wondering what lay ahead of him. This took me back to when he was a small child and had the flu. I lay there chuckling to myself at the similarity of it. I remember way back laying in bed trying to sleep when suddenly Randy burst through the bedroom door only to announce he was going to be sick to his stomach! "Get to the toilet, both Don and I roared, but too late. Randy was too busy hurling undigested wieners all over the hall floor. I can laugh about it now, but at the time, it wasn't so funny! Time sure has flown. I can still remember Randy's first cry in the hospital, and how deep his little voice was even then. How he loved trucks and how when we went for walks he insisted on taking his little three wheelers and push them stubbornly along the trail the whole way singing along to himself all the while. It only seemed natual when he began going to Uncle Allan's farm at the ripe old age of 9 and began driving tractors all summer. Any work around the yard that involved a machine usually had Randy at the wheel. School was always a thorn in Randy's side, but he persevered to get his grade 12. I think maybe his grandfather was what kept him at it. He used to tell Randy how important it was he got his grade 12 and because they had such a great relationship, he didn't let his grandpa down even though his grandpa had passed on a few years before.
It just seemed natural when Randy got his drivers licence. Seemed he should have had it all his life. I remember going to the zoo on a class trip and I came down with one of my lovely migraines. I seriously considered letting Randy drive home at the age of 10. I do believe he could have done it no problem at all. So grade 12 graduation has come and gone and Randy now works for Thomas construction. He drives the huge loader in the pit and works the screener that sifts all the debris out of the winter sand that gets put on the highways. Since being employed at Thomas's, he's became a volunteer firefighter for Stanehope Township. This takes an amazing amount of time and dedication from anyone, but especially a young lad of 18. He's also achieved geting his DZ license which really worries me. Only for the fact I know someday there's going to be a big pebble hauler sitting in my driveway!
I'm still laying there awake wondering what he's going to see tonight on his very first fire call, but off in the distance I can hear the familiar droan of his truck coming along the highway and slowing down into the driveway. The front door opens and closes and Randy comes to our bedroom door and announces kind of dissapointedly that the call was called off. "Some domestic." he tells us. "See ya's in the morning." I quickly thank the lord for keeping him safe and think to myself how proud I am of him as I slip into a good nights sleep.

A trip to Hell

I woke at 5:00 am. Man I hate getting up that early but I jumped in the shower, jumped back out and started gathering the last minute groceries I had to pack for Hailey's trip to cowboy camp. Sounds like a great camp doesn't it! Cowboy's, horses, friends, cattle, buffalo and lot's of fresh air! Sounds good to me, but Hailey was fortunate enough last year to spend a week, and upon return, she said she was NEVER , NEVER, NEVER EVER going back! The meer mention of it had her quaking in her cowboy boots! You see, it's not just go and spend an hour in the saddle, then do crafts and swim for the rest of the day. No, the word Bootcamp literally is the new name for cowboy camp or as Hailey likes to call it, HELL! You see, this camp is run by a world class horse trainer by the name of Troy, and Troy knows his stuff, and he wants to teach kids to ride and train their horses, but he demands perfection and he doesn't candy coat it one iowda. He once asked her last summer why she was so shy, she rides beautifully so she has no reason to be shy. Did yawr Momma beat ya with a stick? He'd shout out with his big Texan accent. You ain't never gonna get a job at McDonald's being that shy! The kids start their day early, 7:00 am to be exact, grab what you can to eat for breakfast and make sure you grab something to hang on the fence post cuz Troy never thinks about stopping for lunch unless he's hungry himself, then he sends someone to the house to make a sandwhich for him and carries on with the day. The girls are in the saddle from morning till night, and inbetween that their cleaning the barn, throwing down hay, pulling weeds from Troy's pastures and basically being worked till their knuckles bleed. Then Lori, Troys absolutly wonderful wife, feeds them supper. On hot days they take a trip down to Lake Erie and have a swim, and even get to go on trail rides so it's not all Hellish and Hailey says once off a horse, Troy steps down from being all business and can be a lot of fun. And let me tell you about the change in horse and rider! Wow! My girl is one tough cowgirl now and Hunter, our horse is a working machine! They have a bond now, and work together beautifully. But does Hailey see this? No, and she said she ain't never going back!

So how is it that Hailey is now back at Troy's for another week of verbal and physical abuse? Well we bought her a new unbroke horse last winter and promptly sent this mare down to Troys for a few months of training. The deal was when we bought the mare is that Hailey would take her down to cowboy camp for a week of working with her. And so the time has come. We met up with our friends the Robert's, loaded up three horses and 3 half sick, but excited girls and struck out to Brantford. My son Randy came along and so did Kelly's boyfriend Des, so we stuck all the kids in one truck and the adults in another. This was good because at least Hailey was smiling and having fun with all the other kids. After almost 4 hours in the truck we arrived at Troy's. Horses got unloaded, luggage and food got unloaded and we were greeted by Troy on horseback. After everyone had thrown their luggage in the bunkie Troy told the girls they had 10 minutes to saddle up and be ready to go. Off to the back ring we went to be spectaters. The girls immediatley began loping their horses for atleast 20 minutes just for a warm up and then Troy began a show of cutting buffalo from the buffalo heard. After that he then got the campers running barrels. To my horror, Nicki, our mare, stumbled and went down with Hailey on her back! Thank God for a deep sand ring to cushion the fall! A few more gray hairs have taken up residence on my head! Hailey brushed herself off and climbed back on. Tough girl I thought to myself as a lump of pride swelled in my throat! Troy then promptly give her shit for not tucking her head and rolling. His exact words were, "Your gonna break your God Damn neck if ya keep falling on your head!" But Hailey is happy with that because she knows what Troy can be like if he goes on one of his tangents. It ain't pretty! Hailey is also happy because her friend Kelly went with her this year, and Troy will be focusing on Kelly quite a bit. Fresh meat I think she was referred to! It was time to leave, time to see if tears were gonna flow. But Hailey did good! She only told me once that she still loved me, but she didn't like me much right at the moment! This to me is a good thing! Have fun Hailey!

Petunia

This is a short story about a deer who comes regularly to visit my pony Wazzat. My daughter thought the name Petunia was nice and it seems to have stuck. We look forward to her visits as much as Wazzat does.


She comes from the forest. A mere shadow slipping silently through the underbrush. If my ears and nose weren't so keen, I'd never know she was there. At first she terrified me! I had picked up her scent and it was unknown to me, but every so often I could hear something venturing closer! I was ready for flight, all my senses prickling in anticipation for an instant burst of speed. Tail lifted high, ears pricked, I scanned the bush, watching for any sign of movement. Suddenly a tiny twig snapped! I was off, bolting for the far side of my paddock until I could go no further so I spun, tail high and a menacing snort bursting from my flared nostrils. Surly that would scare off the intruder.. Silence. I listened hard but not a sound. Curiousity got the better of me. I moved forward carefully. I knew it was close, so close I could hear it breathing. My legs trembled slightly as I proceeded to the fenceline, drawing in deep breaths, trying vainly to identify the unknown. Suddenly a brown head with the biggest ears and eyes appeared through the leaves. I jumped and once more ran to the far side of my paddock. Hooves barely touching the earth below them. I turned to face this intruder who has invaded my peaceful grazing, expecting to find it right on my heels. But this was not so, instead something closely resembling me stood watching me from the other side of the fence. Her deep brown eyes seemed to be twinkling with mischief, her large ears flicked back and forth trying to rid themselves of the deerflies that pestered non-stop. She was chewing on leaves, her long tongue darting out to salvage every morsel. I watched carefully, not sure if she was friend or foe, but no threat seemed to be coming from her. She reached high and ripped off another mouthfull of leaves and again turned to watch me. I couldn't take it anymore. I trotted across the paddock , tail held high ears pricked forward, intent on scaring this intruder off, but suddenly her tail went high in the air like a white surrender flag and she had turned to watch the human barn. My master had just come out the door and began dancing around the yard, arms and legs moving, swinging wildly about. I'm used to such displays from my master but the forest creature watched facinated then abruptly turned and dissapeared into the thick bush behind her.

The forest creature has become a common sight near my paddock. I've learned not to fear her. Instead we graze companionably nearby, me in my paddock, her on the outside of the fence. I actually find her company comforting and when she's not around I scan the forest carefully in hopes to see her. She too must be alone because she comes to visit daily. We draw comfort from each others company, me munching grass, her reaching into the trees and eatting leaves. Sometimes though she gets a little pushy with my territory and jumps from a standstill over the paddock fence into my much beloved paddock and source of grass. This I cannot tolerate and immediatly the chase is on. She effortlessly jumps back out of my paddock as if she's but walking. She then leaves as silently as she appeared and I rely on my master for company until she once again appears out of no-where.

I quickly changed out of my school clothes and put on my comfortable barn sweat shirt and pants. I then pulled on my winter coat and boots and headed out to the barn. We had just received a new dumping of fresh snow so as I walked I zigzagged looking behind me now and then to check out the trail I was leaving in my wake. Snow was magical when I was a kid. I just couldn't understand why it sent my mother into such a state of worrying. I called greetings to my horses who seemed to be enjoying the snow as much as I was. My old horse Devon found the largest drift he could and quickly sank down into it! You could almost see him smiling as he rolled back and forth, all four hooves flailing in the air, then his grunting as he tried to get himself free of the snow drift. He then sprung free of it with a big buck and with tail lifted he cantered over to the fence to see me as if to ask "Are you coming to play too?" I gave him a big pat and went into the barn. I grabbed the wire egg basket and a big stick that sat outside the henhouse, and then proceded to go feed the chickens and gather the eggs. Why the stick? Well, you see, Sir Henry ( the rooster) awaited some poor unsuspecting humans arrival within his domain of chickens. He was a mean brute. He'd wait until you had your back turned and then he'd come at your legs, neck stretched out, wings spread wide and the meanest looking eyes that seemed to glow with the depths of Hell right in them! I'd have to keep one eye on him and one eye on the eggs I was gathering so as not to break any. Quickly I escaped with a full basket of eggs and all skin intact. I grabbed the wheel barrel and pitch fork next. In the distance I could hear my Dad firing up the tractor readying it to blow the snow as well as my tracks, from the driveway. I emmersed myself with the chore of mucking out the horse stalls, removing the horse manure and bedding the stall down with fresh, knee deep straw. This would be the worst job in the world for some, but it gave me time to think of the days events and helped me relax while everything I loved about life surrounded me. The barn cats meowed at my feet, wanting their supper next, but first I had to dump my manure ladden down wheel barrow. The barn door was closed to try and keep the cold winter day out, so being somewhat lazy as all kids are, I grabbed the wheelbarrel handels and gave it a mighty shove against the barn door. That way I wouldn't have to stop and prop the door open. I could hear Dad on the tractor blowing the snow but I was concentrating so much on keeping the wheelbarrel upright without loosing any meadow muffins that I didn't look up to see what he was doing. Suddenly I was being attacked with a wall of pummeling white. It persistently hit my face so I was instantly blinded! I completly forgot my careful handling of the wheelbarrel and threw it aside, meadow muffins flying askew! My hands came over my face in instant defense mode trying to fend off my attacker! Suddenly all went quiet. I peeked out from behind my gloved snowy fingers, waiting for the next assault but all that greeted my eyes was my Dad trying to stay seated on the tractor because he was laughing so hard and slapping his knee that he almost fell off. "Gotchya again!" He hollered over the engine of the tractor and he proceeded on down the lane taking aim at the horses as he passed their paddocks, I'm sure he was chuckling all the way. I just didn't see the humor in it all as I wiped the snow from every oriface of my face and proceeded to refill my wheelbarrel with spilt meadow muffins. Once refilled I muttered paybacks all the way to the manure pile.
Today I think of these past memories and how much I miss them happening. Mom and Dad's farm hold many for me. Memories only a farm, its animals and great parents can give you.

Our First Gymkanna of 2010

The morning broke cold and cloudy, but at least it wasn't snowing with high winds that made you bend at the waist as you tried to walk outside in it. I quickly showered and dressed which is a feet in itself for me as I love a long hot shower to wake up. Quickly egg salade sandwiches are thrown together and packed in the cooler for our lunch while Don & Hailey pack up the trailer. Everythings loaded, except for Hunter who casually walks onto the trailer with hardly a flick of his tail. He knows this routine well and I'm sure briefly wonders where he'll end up today. I'm gone ahead with my car to pick up Tim Horton coffee's and make sure the gates are open. We arrive at the Minden Fairgrounds for our first gymkanna of 2010.

Trailers start to arrive, old aqaintances from last year give a big Hello to each other. Horses whinny from within their trailers and the unloading begins. Kids start grooming their horses and tacking them up while the horses munch noisily at their hay. Parents frantically register the kids and horses, hoping they enter them in the right classes or they know there'll be hell to pay when they get back to their trailer. The executive members of the Haliburton County Horsemen's club are busily setting up and getting things organised, but the cold weather and wind are now playing havoc with pens, flying papers and frozen fingers. Finally we're ready for the first class!

The day starts with pin the tail on the donkey for the youngest group of riders. Then the speed is turned on! Bays, chestnuts and paints are thrown into motion, muscles bunching and stretching over tight hides. The pounding of hooves fills the air while horse and rider try their turns at barrels, pole bending and other speed events throughout the day. Competitors are intense in the ring but once outside it, all are relaxed and hanging with their friends. Catching up on gossip or checking out someone's new horse or boyfriend. (or girlfriend, gotta make it fair) The sun is starting to peek out from behind the clouds and spectators and competitors alike are welcoming its warmth. Did I mention its also Mother's Day. What a great way to hang out with your kids. I was especially happy to see my son, who says he couldn't care a less about horses, take the time and come hang out with us! He also brought me Lindor chocolates! Time has gone by fast, even though at the beginning of the day it was so cold we thought it would never end! The sun is shinning brightly now as the last class of the day is run. Horses are once again tied to their trailers while kids untack and make sure the horses are cooled off enough to load. Proud parents are watching nearby and once again lots of cobitsing and teasing are evident amongst everyone. The executive breathe a sigh of relief because all their hard work has paid off. As the last horse is loaded and the trailers start to head for home the only thing left to do is tally up the points of each horse and rider and prepare for next months gymkanna in June. Hopefully we won't have to wear our winter coats and mittens to this next one!!