Salt Cedars Galore

I always wanted a black horse, never did have one though, but I think they are beautiful.  Was always around horses growing up, my Dad was very much a 'horse man', and wanted me to be as crazy about them as well, so he started me out young.  I was 2 the first time I remember going behind Dad on Bessie, his Palomino.  She was a sweet horse, with a beautiful, creamy-colored mane and tail.  Sitting behind the saddle and scooted up real close, with double-wraps of my hands in the leather fringe, Dad would put his left arm behind me, reins in his right, and off we'd go to check the cows in the creek pasture.  There were water gaps to check and cows to count, Dad always liked to see his cattle every day, so we did, no matter what pasture they were in.  It was grand adventure to me, wind blowing in your face with your hair lifting in the same rhythm as the horses mane, this is when I fell in love with forward motion, wind in my face.

My Grandma had made me a special bandanna for these occasions.  She took a bandanna and folded it in half point-to-point, and placed a plastic headband at the front, widest part, then basted it in along the back and ends of the headband.  The loose ends of the bandanna then tied behind your neck.

With my bluejeans and boots on and wearing my special bandanna, I thought I was pretty much all that as Mom would lift me up to put my foot in the stirrup Dad had just dropped his foot out of and I'd swing up behind him as he held my left arm.

He would double-check my hands in the fringe, adjust my booted feet pretty much sticking straight out on either side of him, reach his arm behind me and off we'd go, loping out of the driveway headed south to the creek.

It didn't take me long to figure out that I had to lean forward when Dad would trot Bessie uphill and lean back when we started down the other side.  Her hooves in the shallow creek water was just the neatest thing I thought, splashing water up her sides and sprinkling my legs and back.

Dad and I did this countless times together, but on this one day I was with him we were missing a calf.  He explained I was going to have to hold on real tight without his arm behind me because we were going to have to go through the 'brush', which was groves and groves of salt cedars, and with one hand he would guide Bessie and with the other keep the branches from slapping us in the face as we went by.

I was so engrossed and enthralled with this new adventure, leaning off to one side when Dad would and he would hold the salt cedar branch away from us.  He would ask me, ''You still with me?'' every once in a while after these tree scraping moments.

We found the calf and Dad showed me how to tell from his nose that he had sucked, so he was good, his Momma knew where he was, she would go to him later.

The mounting exercises when Mom wasn't there to lift me up to Dad were a little different.  It was a good thing Bessie was so gentle, because I'd kind of be there dangling for a moment until I could get my foot in the stirrup and get all settled aboard.

We had checked the water gaps and headed back to the house when I realized my bandanna was gone!  Dad said he would come back and look for it later, but I just knew it would be gone by then, blown away by the wind or a coyote grabbing it, or some other awful thing and it would be lost to me forever.

I think Dad turned around and retraced our path because he didn't want to listen to me go on forever about it all the way back to the house. 

We did finally find it, but that meant we were quite a bit later than usual in getting back to the house, when we trotted into the driveway there stood my Mother, with those hands folded back, resting on her hips.  If you knew my Mother, you know exactly what I mean.