As I write to you, I am sitting on the double swing of our ten foot high swing set.  I am feeling a soft wind that is whisking my hair in the breeze.  It is warm enough to be in knee length shorts and my brown converse sneakers (sans socks), but not warm enough to be without my plaid burgundy sweater/jacket. Underneath I am layered with a long sleeve western style shirt, and underneath that, a long sleeveless pink t-shirt.  I found out yesterday that the longer I was in the sun, and the more active I became (riding Minnie) that long sleeves would be just too hot to be comfortable. Today, I am ready for the peeling of layers as the sun and activity warms me.

The wind has just picked up and is blowing my hair with more gusto.  I can hear the rhythmic click, click, click coming from the center power box of our electrical fence.  I can hear crickets far down by the pond, and the chirping of several different kinds of birds.

I hear the sound of birds coming from the right side of me, too, somewhere in the forest beside my house.  And just now, from right behind (and above) me, I heard a loud chirping – I looked to find the source and it is a beautiful woodpecker with a bright red head and seems to have a speckled body. 

The old rusty windmill is a constant perpetual sound to which I have grown to appreciate as the background music of all that goes on here at Ranch Shekinah.  Even as I go to sleep at night when the windows are open, I can hear it.  It makes its presence known 24/7,  as long as there is just at the least a slight breeze to keep it cranking.

There is the occasional whinny and snort from the horses that are right before me where I sit. And further beyond the pasture and the alfalfa field in a distant field, I can see smoke rising from a small outside fire.  If I am standing where the wind is traveling I can smell the scent of burning leaves and branches. 

My smallest children were delighted when they came outside to play and found me sitting solitaire on their swing set.  Jacob threw himself onto my lap and wrapped his arms around me, saying, “Mommy! Mommy!” as if totally surprised to find me in his domain, just waiting to play with him.

I couldn’t have dreamed up a better weekend.  Both Saturday and Sunday my husband led us on a walk meandering all around the property.  He has been smitten by Magic, as if with a magical spell of some sort, for my husband who has not the infinity for horses as I do, has been taking our 10 month old colt on walks every chance he gets.  Just as one might take their dog on a walk with a leash and collar, so my husband does with Magic, leading him with a lead rope attached to his halter.  You cannot ride a horse until it has reached two years old, so this is the best thing one could do for a growing horse – getting him used to being handled by people. But this is not exactly the reason my husband is doing this – it is just because he enjoys Magic and has taken a special liking to him. 

On Saturday I rode Minnie – my backhind has healed sufficiently enough to try bareback again.  When I seen my husband was including Magic on our walk, I couldn’t just but help to hop onto Minnie and walk alongside.  Matt, Kristi, and Baby Kayla joined us along with several of our children.  I mostly walked alongside, but there was some time after everyone abandoned our walk that I was able to try my balancing by riding (bareback). 

On Sunday afternoon, when we ventured out for our walk, again my husband took along Magic.  Minnie has one of the boniest backs to ride upon, and I decided that as much as I love and trust Minnie to ride bareback, I thought I’d take Gretta instead.  When I mounted her, I immediately noticed a huge difference, this horse being more well endowed on the spot beneath me.  But what Gretta had in a plusher ride, she lacked in docility.  I wasn’t sure just how it was all going to go – her spunk is about a thousand percent higher than Minnie.  Although their both sweet horses, Minnie is in her teens and Gretta is just a babe (5 years old).  From the very first few minutes, she argued with me about my intended desire to take a walk.  Round and round we went, her will against my will, until I convinced her that she had no choice in this.  This was to be the first but of many arguments,

My husband had gone on ahead of us while I was mounting Gretta, and when I finally caught up to him, I found him lying down on the grass, spread out, and enjoying the sun.  Jack, our golden retriever was keeping him company, and we (Rachel and I) laughed when we observed Jack snuggling up to my husband, and mimicking his body position, as if our dog was trying to get a suntan, too.  Our two smaller children, Ruthie and Jacob, were climbing on the huge hills that inhabit this part of the acreage.  I don’t think I’d ever seen them play here, but then again, we don’t usually park ourselves here, either.  This spot is usually the place that I practice my faster riding skills, as there are trails that weave in and out of the hilly terrain. 

When we resumed our walk, we ended up at an adjacent part of the property and here it was that my husband got into a conversation with a neighbor.  After hanging out for a while in the vicinity, I parted and went on my own little trail ride.  I explored places with Gretta that I had not been before, overlooking the steep bank that overlooks the creek.  I spent an additional hour just meandering through the forest and by the trail that runs along the creek.  The water was flowing rapidly this day and it was so pretty to listen to it as we walked along. At times I practiced my balance and we would trot, and other times, we just took it easy as I absorbed all the beautiful sounds of nature and the beauty of it all. 

When I got back, everyone was hungry.  We had our first cook out and invited Matt and Kristi, and a few others that are not family members.  The sun had gone down now, and it was chilly, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying our first cook out eating at the picnic table.  We shivered as we ate, but it was a fun meal with a lot of laughter as well as a good burger.

We did finish our lovely weekend with our family reading time – two (very long) chapters from our newest G.A. Henty book, In Freedom’s Cause.  After reading time we had family prayer together, and then hurried off to bed. It was a weekend of not only rest, but total refreshment of the soul and spirit.