The Breath of Fall...

...is whispering against my cheeks!

This morning was cleansed by last night's storm.
The fields looked alive again, even in their golden state.
That which had become accustomed to wearing dusty green, had returned to it's natural glorious hue (which happens to be my favorite color!).
The air was crisp, the lawn littered with fallen leaves from Locust trees.
I dug deep into my dresser in search of a sweater, grabbed my abandoned slippers and headed for my front porch.
There, with the rich aroma of my morning coffee,
the quiet sounds of horses content with feed,
an inner sense of a season's end, surrounded my being.
I allowed the love, yet hate, thoughts to traverse my mind.

The many flowers are getting tired, the harassing weeds are prospering.
(Here, I take responsibility for the demise and regrowth thereof.)
The horses have begun shedding their summer coats.
The young quail are finally out and displaying their crests.
Trees are turning color and Chrysanthemums are budding.
The many nests have been abandoned, and the skies more dotted.
Pumpkins are becoming more orange each day;
Rhubarb is dying back quickly to replenish the Earth.

~This year....
As Winter's chill lingered on too long,
I yearned for Spring and the renewal of life!
As Summer's heat has drained my energy, I long for Fall's parade of colors!

~This year....
What seemed like a Winter that wouldn't quit,
it now feels like a Summer that needs some closure.

~This year....
It's only August, yet I welcome these early changes.


~This year....

Flashes lit up the horizons...

...and wreaked havoc below!!

WHAT a storm it was that passed through tonight!

Figures!

I had about 9 of your Blogs pulled, so far, loaded on separate tabs...computer, Internet, Blogger all seemed to be cooperating with me...I was loading 2 more as I was cooking supper. I planned to get as many uploaded & ready to read after eating without having that long waiting process of me perched in this hard chair, twiddling my thumbs & feeling anxiety scratching at my temples! My plan was working!

CRACKLE! BOOM!! CRASH!! KABAM!!

The power went out instantly!

"Dang it all!" was my first thought! after all that work,
now the computer and all the tabs are shut down!
Oh well....

One minute of solid crashes, bams, booms & crackling...the sky was lit up like day light! The house shuttered, the dogs searched for the deepest darkest corners...

Three minutes passed...no let up! Streaks etched themselves in vicious directions. Sheet lightning was piercing through the clouds.

It was ominous.

Cowboy calmly asked if our insurance was paid up on the house....
"yes of course!"
Is it enough to replace/rebuild?...
"I think so.. "
Good, he snickers, then let's hope it strikes us so we can down size this monstrous house!

Hubby was bootin' himself up to get ready for an animal stampede, I think. (he didn't tell me that, I'm just mentally preparing for the worse ya know!)

Me? I grabbed my purse, my cash stash, my car keys...and yes, LL, even my shoes! I placed them all by the door for immediate access should one of those angry streaks strike our house!

The rain was drenching...

I did take time to notice the wonderful smell rains provides when it is so rare to have.
Only for a moment though.
When the dust & chaff of summer is tempered...
Mmmm it's a fragrance that should be captured in a candle!

Five minutes are gone. It continues to stay bright outside!

We noticed the cows in the distance, launching themselves off the hillsides toward a draw.

The horses were squealing! Running! Carrying on (except two) stirring up dust & each other!

The thundering of their hooves were probably heard for miles around..if there was anyone that close to hear!

Even the chickens bolted from their nightly roosts & began squawking & flapping feathers around inside their coop!

Ten minutes; twenty minutes; 35 minutes long! That's how long this storm hovered overhead of us!

We have never seen the likes of before! The intensity was fierce!

I am thinking, luckily, there was some rain...
...luckily the wheat farmers ~in our area~ are done harvesting for the most part.
I do not smell the scent of smoke, nor do I see a red glow to the now darkness of night.

Morning could bring another story. ( I pray not!)
We already have 2 severely injured horses we are doctoring.
We don't need anymore!


****************************
Other news....
I won a prize! I don't think I've ever won a single thing in my whole time on earth!
And it's all because I L-O-V-E my coffee!!!
(in case you haven't figured that out by now... )


More Importantly than winning this prize from The OriginalCoffeeCompanyOnline,
I have "Won" a very dear friend!!

And the Sun Sets...

...ending another glorious day for A Cowboy's Wife!

or was it??? Let's back track...the day was July 1, 2008.....yesterday!
(If you don't like to walk backwards in time, go to the beginning ...

... at the end and read up!)

-9:35pm: Sitting on the front porch, our appetites satisfied with Spaghetti Carbonara, we 'noticed' the mess...we never got to today...shook our heads and said "Oh well...there is always tomorrow!"

We both agreed that today-the tempers, the frustrations, the work...are much easier to cope with on a cold 0* day after a long nights sleep, than it is on a 101* summer day, after very little sleep! I'm Ok now...Cowboy is Ok now...power is working, A/C is running (only the 3rd time I've turned it on...hate the higher power bills so I use sparingly!), all the animals seem content, nothing died, we're alive & sitting on our front porch...together!

I'm savoring my 4th cup of coffee (6th for the day)...I noticed the sun was setting over the wheat fields in the distance. Since calm had come back to my senses...I DID think about that danged camera that I never seem to have handy...so seeing the sunset, I did the best I & the camera can do....

"The Calm AFTER the Storm"

Tomorrow is yet another day....

-6:55 pm: Ok, all the chickens are SAFELY back in their pen. They were relieved, and so was I! We had to fix their pen also...seems as somewhere in the midnight riot, one of the horses must have kicked through their pen leaving a gaping hole. The "Girls" got their "rights" read to them...once they realized all that hollering was directed at them to STOP! They are now safe in their kennels...to contemplate their day! The good & the bad! Our bellies are screaming for supper...and my mind reminds me I have NOT had my daily quota of coffee!

-5:30 pm: Horses unsaddled, bathed & turned out. Hmmmmmm...we haven't even begun to do MY "yard chores"....I'm thinking.. "...bet it don't happen today!" As that thought flew passed my brain..we saw Tess chasing...a chicken! They had gotten out sometime between 11: am & now! She listens pretty well, yet sometimes she has a brain fart & forgets she's being spoken (or hollered) to! This was one of those times! Chaos! Squaking & feathers filled the air! Millie decided she wanted to be in on the action too! You all know how them "Teen years" are! Ol' Man Mac, knows better, so he just found the best seat in the house and watched...I'm sure he was thinking "Ok you young pups...you're in for a lesson on discipline!"

-4:20 pm: Arrived back home...after having had to load up two horses, haul over to "Mr. & Mrs", and set out to find & gather OUR Momma cow & her calf, along with the 2 newly weaned from the bottle/to butcher calves of theirs. They didn't like the storm either, I'd guess! Luckily, they were found on the CRP to the south and NOT the wheat fields to the north & west! We got the buggers back, had to clean out their water troughs of mud...and repair more fences! I have to say Tess and Millie did a great job helping! (pretty much the only Plus of the day so far!)

-11:45 am: Finishing our lunch, the phone rings...."uh-oh" , I hear Hubby say, "we'll be right there"...the Uh-Oh.......sent prickly sensations through my spine...I knew those words meant something NOT fun was about to happen!

-11:00 am: Just got done with the "horse chores"! Whew! Aside from the normal cleaning & feeding, there was water troughs to be cleaned from all the mud created by the Haboob, horses to be caught, and doctored, fences to be mended & pens put back where they used to be! Quite appearent, the horses did NOT enjoy the storm either! They got all rawled up & went berserk! It's a domino effect...only takes ONE to stir the whole pot! We'll never know which one started it...doesn't matter, "damage" was done. One gate was bent & barely hanging; two horses were 'roaming' on the CRP bordering us (Cowboy forgot to shut that gate when he came back in from riding the day before! Bet he doesn't forget again, you are thinking...but I know him...he will!); the fence between one young filly & a gelding was "sagging", t-posts bent..and they were together. The gelding must have created that mess, as he is the one that needed doctoring. Luckily, nothing too serious, as wire is known to do. Cowboy had to get out the scissors & then do some stitching. He'll be fine, just looks ugly!The only horse here that seemed to keep his cool was the 2 year old stallion going to Hawaii! Thank goodness!!

-7:30 am: Having finished a light breakfast of eggs, toast and peaches, we grumpily agreed that more would be accomplished, productively, if we joined forces. I will help Cowboy do all the "horse chores" because there was going to be more than usual. (We heard the ruccous in the dark quiet hours, but there was no use doing anything about it until morning). He will help me to the "yard chores" seeing branches and tumbleweeds EVERYWHERE! Without wandering around the premises...I could only imagine what else took place...but I'll check that out AFTER the "horse chores"...no point in getting more stressed!

TUES July 1, 2008-6:30 am: Grrrrr! DID NOT sleep well! We had a horrible wind storm come through last nite, lost the power about midnite & it stayed off for 2.5 hours, temp's hovered around 88*in the bedroom,living room~ everywhere! Felt like I was in AZ again! Complete with the Haboob! We sat on the front porch assessing the whole situation afore us, drinking our coffee! Neither of us speaking for fear our lack of REM sleep would cause us to take slashes at the world around us, including each other!

"HABOOB" def: The word "haboob" comes from the Arabic word habb, meaning “wind.” A haboob is a wall of dust as a result of a microburst or downburst. The air forced downward is pushed forward by the front of a thunderstorm cell, dragging dust and debris with it, as it travels across the terrain.

Haboobs occur mostly during the summer months . These dust storms are much more serious than dust devils. The wind during a haboob is usually up to about 30 mph and dust can rise high into the air as it blows over the Valley. A haboob can last for up to three hours . There various degrees of dust storms, but the haboob is the largest and most dangerous.