Ridin', Reinin' and Writin'

In the spirit of the last post, I continue to live in the present and, since my present almost always includes horses, yesterday was no different in that respect. But yesterday was more than the usual feeding and caring for my horses. Yesterday I ventured out of the Chilcotin (but only as far as the Cariboo) to a gathering of horses and horse lovers in the indoor arena at Easy Go Ranch. I admit I needed a gentle push from a friend but I did go . . . Crystal and I arrived without horses and left itching to ride. Since neither of us has an indoor at home and our arenas look more like skating rinks, we had to be satisfied with soaking up the ambiance in that arena.

100 Mile Sliders Reining Club is an active group of riders interested in reining. To that end, they meet with their horses to exchange ideas but more importantly, to connect with others with a like interest. I had not met most of the riders and spectators at Easy Go Ranch but it didn't take long to see they were friendly and enthusiastic. I had brought may camera and, though the light is poor in an indoor, I managed to get some shots that conveyed what I perceived - a group of happy riders and horses.

After the last few posts, I felt a compelling need to jump back into the present. Memories are great but they’re just that – memories! To paraphrase Dr. Phil, “You can’t change the past – it’s over; you can’t change the future – it hasn’t happened; the only thing you can change is the present.” The present is today – March 8th, 2012.

Nothing is more about both past and present than birthdays. My computer reminds me of three on March 8th – an old boyfriend, an ex-husband and a friend, two born on March 8th of the same year! I phoned my friend. Ex boyfriend and husband belong in the past today. My friend and I discussed this at length on this day, her birthday (the 'present', not the old boyfriend and the ex-husband). Although vastly different in many ways, that’s one thing on which we agree. 

After I hung up, I continued to think about what living in the moment really meant and how I could make today, March 8, 2012, everything it could be. Easy – play with my dog, ride a horse, plan my garden (Okay – that’s the future but ordering seeds is now…)

I’m not going to tell anyone I’m waiting for spring anymore. Spring will happen when it happens. As my friend said this morning when I said some don’t want to celebrate birthdays: “A birthday is a privilege,” she said. Sure is… And so is every moment of every day. . . and night! Full moon tonight! I do love full moons.

And so I’ve wandered the trails backward quite enough for the time being. It’s all about the privilege of the present now.

I chose the title of this blog  (Ridin’, Reinin’ and Writin’) because I thought it summed up the interests in my life at this time of my life. I’ve ridden horses all my life, reined for the last thirty plus years and recently pursued another passion – writing. As I look back on over 80 blog posts, I see that I have covered those topics (the ‘writing’ part is all topics in general and those that don’t have a horse in them in particular). As I’ve said a few times, I write here about whatever thought is uppermost in mind that week.

The last few posts were inspired by a trunk filled with memorabilia of my life. This one is connected in a way too, for in that trunk are my baby book and the ones I made for my three children as well as baby blankets and a crocheted baby sweater/ blanket set. As you can imagine, these treasures stirred up a lot of memories of those years. If the technology had been what it is today, my blog would have been quite different in the years I raised my family. The title might have been Babies, Bath Water and Beef because that’s what occupied my mind then.

 A few pencil scribbles and three Christmas stamps didn't identify the contents of the ragged white envelope pasted to a page of the old scrapbook - my scrapbook. What importance did this envelope have to me that I had saved it? I lifted the flap. I pulled out a small, folded piece of paper. Now I knew. I remembered... This was my first marriage proposal . . . from our neighbour's son, all of 6 years old.

In the last post, I wrote of a trunk, a trunk with enough material for several future posts. That's where I found the scrapbook and, in that scrapbook, the endearing note from little Keith (with the help of his mother, no doubt). Of course that small square of paper was important enough to keep! After all, how many girls get their first proposal of marriage hand written?

Unlike autograph books (the subject of the last post), scrapbooks have remained in vogue, even became an obsession to some… and given a verb form – ‘scrapbooking’. The scrapbook I pulled out of my trunk doesn’t much resemble those works of art we see now. It never did but now it’s tattered, yellowed and falling apart. Some pages are incomplete. Some the items have become 'unstuck'. But it’s mine... And it's priceless.

Does anyone remember when autograph books were the craze? Do school girls still have them? Do they even know what they are of have they been replaced by Facebook and smart phones?

I think my mom and dad gave me an autograph book the Christmas I was in grade six. The only reason I know this is that I found it in that trunk I mentioned in my last blog and many of the entries are dated. The first page is all about me - my signature (same name!), pasted-in photos - one on my horse, Rocky, and one carefully cut-out of another photograph.

Since my post last week about Florence, I can't get Italy off of my mind – the time I spent there, the experiences I had, the people I met. Since the subjects of Ridin', Reinin' and Writin' posts are whatever random things stick in my head or what’s near and dear to my heart, the topic of this post had already been chosen.

With that in mind, I started looking for the journal I kept while I was in Italy - the only time I’ve journaled in my life. It would be inspiration for my Monday blog post.

Although that quest didn't lead me to the journal , it did offer several hours of nostalgia . . . and inspiraton for many more posts. Everything that has sentimental value to me I keep in one trunk and that’s where I looked for the journal which, as I said, I didn’t find (I'm quite sure it will turn up). What I did find was a lot of memories – scrapbooks, photos, diary, baby books and blankets, dolls, toys, and much more . . . and a small leather binder holding a few letters I received when I was in Italy – one from each of my daughters and two more...