A Man and His Horse...

Many sayings pop up now and again that seem to have lost relevance to our time. One of the most poignant to me now is the old adage, “A man is only as good as his horse.” Now lets ruminate on that for just a moment... When was the last time that you saw a horse in person let alone rid one? A pony? a Merry-go-Round? With some obvious exceptions to our more rural pals, one would be hard pressed today to find a man, woman, or child whose body, let alone the attached character, came within a mile of the equestrian realm.

It thus seems to me that this old measuring stick of worth and ability just doesn’t quite cut it anymore. To put it less elegantly, "There ain’t no wild mares or bronco bustin’ cowboys left in theze parts.” Would you like a more tangible example? Well fine then, When was the last time that you had a mustang riding rancher sit his chapped behind next to you at the saloon, and drawl out his order for a sasparilla? It is time to revamp that old cliché. So, with that in mind, lets talk about cars!

I just got a new vehicle, a 2000 Kia Sephia, a model which is now no longer produced having been merged with the Spectra in 2002. I am not gonna kid anyone and try to pass it off like my car is the greatest one in the world. However, don’t let anyone fool you either, my little Filly has four wheels just like anyone elses and it can run. "That ‘aint bad." I don’t care what kind of cowboy you were then or are now, your horse meant the world to you and I am not any different. Freedom spelled with imported Korean lettering and coming in the four wheeled and running variety sounds just as sweet as freedom in any other scrit. And then there is the added bonus; my ride probably doesn’t need as much hay as everyone else's! My new Kia is a very special car to me in so far as it is mine. I own it, I paid for it fully, I cover the insurance, it consumes my gas, oil, and dollars; I wash it, rub it down, talk to it, pet it, and love it, so quite rightfully I am proud. (though if you want to send me gas cards I certainly won’t object.) It is my noble steed and together we are free!

Funny enough, but my new car is so much an expression of my independence and freedom that I have begun moving my thing out of the house and into it instead. I have found myself gathering the junk I have scattered throughout the house in storage and boxes and sequestering it in my vehicle; my bastion of freedom and independence. If it makes it into my trunk, it is suddenly irrevocably mine. I am stowing away slowly and surely the precious keepsakes of my life. I recently hunted down an old college blanket which I have been coveting from my parents. It was bought a year ago at my graduation and I had had my eye on it all through my collegiate years. I used to visit its likeness in the bookstore and longingly drool at it, wondering and hoping it would one day be mine. Since my parents bought it and promised it to me after my very cold graduation day it has been lingering and malingering in the back of my mind pulling my thoughts every so often back to it in order to pay it homage. I can proudly say that it is now gracing the backseat of my four-door oasis. It may clash but its colors speak to me of harmony rather than the public's translation of classy yet more unnecessary clutter to the back of yet another automobile. I hunted it down and lovingly united it with the rest of my spoils. The Alumni stickers are without question on the way. I am hoarding; surreptitiously moving out of the house and into my car. A strange phenomena, but hey, its what I got. Suffice it to say, I love me car, it is wonderful and promising and freeing and belonging to me. I know and back my horse, cause damnit, its mine!

Musing

I have many stories to tell about my time up in Alaska. For now though I am safely at home and the events are wrapped in sheeves of notes, journals, pictures, letters, and memory. The sky was huge in Alaska, when you could see it. The sea was endless and the waves broke upon one another into the blurred horizon. At night when you could sea the sky, it seemed to have you pinned beneath it. The cold air, the pressure of the rising hull beneath your feet. I lived some full moments on the Bering Sea. Sweat, blood, tears, ice, salt, crab and round the clock vigilance. It was a blessing, a piece of something more.... One's heart beats harder and one may feel more alive when peering over the precipice into danger, it is anxious, often scary, but also quite exhilerating.... and and here I blabber safe and sound at home, Not to worry Sis, I will work it out, I will make more sense of my time up there that is worth sharing. It was only two seasons, 6 months of life on a crab boat but what an adventure it was. I'll keep writing.