Tag Archives: Horses

Das Fenster

Just outside this window there is a friendly dog–a handsome guy who looks like a black Golden Retriever–and a passel of kids, some of them mine, tossing him a branch-ish stick to retrieve. Down the road there are three horses waiting to be ridden; one of them particularly grateful for her new job, having been recently rescued from the scorching desert heat and someone’s unimaginably cruel neglect. Misery, they named her, a sweet irony to her newly nurturing life and what I could swear looks like a smile on her face.

A toothy llama, Rodeo, stands on the corner–not to be ridden–but to be seen, buck teeth and all. Her gentle, unassuming nature reminds me that in a small town, Julian to be exact, time slows down and pays attention to details missed in larger slices of society. I wonder what I have been missing in my own suburban town – what I might ought to begin to notice.

I nearly walk right past these incredible flowers, blooming freely in a very large pot on the sidewalk next to one of the local apple pie bakeries. It’s the color that stops me in my tracks. Are they blue? Are they purple? I don’t quite decide, I just take the shot and marvel at just how much I like particular shades of blue and purple; how soulful they are.

Later, much later, as I reflect on our impromptu jaunt into Julian, I vow to defect from the rat race and enter into a sort of distracted, nirvana-like existence; to breathe deeply like a nearly-comatose yoga student. Instead, I eat pie…lots and lots of pie, which is the other great way to become comatose. It really is that simple: appreciate what is right in front of your busy nose, eat pie, become comatose, and take a little nap–unless, like me, you still have a mountain to drive back down.

Words and photographs are the creation and property of author/photographer, Britton Minor and The Jaded Lens Photography

Permission

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These horses couldn’t get enough of each other. I think they may be frenemies. Is this the nature of boundary-pushing friendships?

Certain people fall (or are pushed) into our lives. Sometimes the blessing one person provides–and at just the right moment–is beyond comprehension. We think, and may even say, “Where would I be without so-and-so?” Then we picture some horrible, smelly, wet, dark ditch (or, insert your own horrific thought here) that, without them, would surely have been our reality.

But what about other people whose impending presence make us sweat, bite our nails, tug our hair, or double-over with a belly ache? Too dramatic? Is there anyone in your life who, when they call, you send right to voice mail? Me neither, but just in case…

So why am I talking about this today? Because when I think about the people I know who are fighting for their lives, their marriages, their careers, their sanity; “life is short” is what comes to mind. And sometimes we have fallen into a trap in which other people’s expectations are what keep us from the kind of life we dream of, or at least from pursuing the goals we’ve kept pushing aside while helping other people fulfill theirs. Or we have a “friend” or two who take, but don’t give back. It may not even be a person, but a “thing” that we’ve committed to that doesn’t actually fit into our already busy lives.

Is there anyone or any thing that comes to mind? Is it time to say “No” and make it stick? Is it time to readjust the schedule or priorities? Do you need permission? Ok, you’ve got it! What are you waiting for?