Emotions and Monsoons

Clearly it is spring...for the monsoons have arrived. Yeeuck. I cannot believe how hard it was raining yesterday and last night. The weatherman says that we are in a pattern of wet weather - ya think? I hurried home last night to get the horses in as quickly as possible, and they were hiding out in the outside barns. The boys were in one shelter and the girls were in another. The girls looked traumatized. They were wet and trembling. Seriously trembling, all over their bodies and it wasn't from being cold. I often wonder just what takes place when we're not around. Hmmm, probably never will know. Anyway, so I brought everybody in as quickly as possible, gave them some hay and filled up the water buckets. Everybody settled in and calmed down...momma had arrived, there was food, shelter and routine - blessed routine. Horses are suckers for routine. It is a comforting thing. All was well.

Even Merlin wanted to come in for the night. Lately, since the weather had warmed up and I'd been leaving the large sliding door open at night for some fresh air, he'd come in and have a quick bite, then head back on out and spend the night outside in the pasture. But not last night, uh-huh, he was staying inside and he was wet...and smelly. Have you ever gotten a good whiff of a soaking wet llama?? Well, trust me - you're not missing a thing. They stink!! Llamas stink big time - but especially when they're wet. It's something that's hard to describe...but imagine, rotten old fritos mixed in with something earthy and male and...oh, I just can't describe it. I only know that it's not a pleasant smell. Nothing like horses, they smell good, but not Merlin!! He is seriously one smelly old dude...but I digress.

Last weekend was a mixed bag. As usual, the time went unbearably fast and was over in a flash. We decided to stay home and not go to church, so we spent a quiet morning around home, which felt great not to have to get up and rush off somewhere. We got the stalls cleaned early and spent some time sitting in the morning sunshine watching the horses eat their breakfasts. That was nice. Then I headed inside to fix my potluck dishes for the family barbecue Saturday afternoon. My sis and hubby have been gone to sunny Arizona for the last couple of months and they had just gotten home. So, to welcome them back and celebrate their 47th wedding anniversary, we were having a family get-together. Sounds nice huh? Remember, this is family we're talking about here. Always interesting if nothing else. Overall it was a nice time spent socializing and eating and relaxing. A brief, but intense spring storm moved through and brought with it, some pretty impressive thunder and lightening, a lot of rain and some very high winds. We had no damage, but watching the local news that evening showed that many folks in the Portland area did. Strange season so far. So, anyway we got home rather late, brought the horses in for a late supper and watched a little tv before turning in. Geez we live exciting lives don't we?

Sunday was spent mostly indoors because of rainy weather. I did some housecleaning and laundry, cleaned the horse stalls and even managed to take an afternoon nap. I wasn't really feeling very well and was overly emotional most of the day and probably wasn't very pleasant to be around for the most part. Good thing we stayed at home, I guess. I think part of my problem is weather related. I've been feeling very cooped up and unable to do a lot of physical activities lately which always makes me feel irritable and caged. I'm very anxious to begin conditioning my horses for the riding season and also have been looking forward to doing some gardening. I have so many projects dancing around in my head, but haven't been able to get anything started and it's really making me feel edgy.

Another issue is finances. We have really been feeling the pressures lately due to the reduced hours where my hubby works and I'm always feeling like we're trying to play catch-up. Seriously is getting very old. We both have always had to work full-time and our wages are very much on the lower end and that doesn't help either. Our truck is going into the shop today for the diagnostics. It has been overheating and we have no idea what is causing the problem. Hopefully it will be nothing serious and we can get it repaired without having to put it on the credit card. Our poor old house has so many issues that I won't even bother going into that. I just feel like there are way too many issues on my plate lately and I am not in the right frame of mind to deal with it all. I would love to run away from all the pressures and duties of this life for a while and deal with everything on my own terms, instead of somebody else's terms for a change. Wouldn't that be nice? Dreams, I know, just dreams.

But, in the midst of it all I remain thankful for the many blessings that surround me every single day. I just need to keep those things foremost in my mind and breathe deeply...for as my momma always said - "this too, shall pass". So very true.

On a brighter note, an old friend of mine will be staying occasionally at our place in her motor home while she does some planning about her own life. I had wished for someone to mentor and/or tutor me with my horsemanship...and like an answer to a prayer, here she comes, back into my life after being gone for about 5 years. I am looking forward to riding with her and having her help me with some issues that I have been struggling with. I am really excited about that. I just need to get some better footing in our outside riding area and maybe get our neighbor to do some work with his tractor. If the weather cooperates, it won't be long before I'm back in the saddle; and Lord knows that is always good for this cowgirl's soul. Yes indeedy!! And...I'm even wearing real shoes again!! Whoo hoo...things are looking up!!

Blessings from cingspots