of horses and fish

The only request Wilson's birth Mom made of us, was to not let him grow up to be a cowboy. Thus the problem. In the last 72 hours Wilson has been twice on horseback, spent an evening bucking hay and generally being complimented on his "natural" horsemanship skills. On Sunday we were invited to spend an evening with some of Tony's favorite patients. They live on the back side of Steptoe Butte on a beautiful farm where they raise Arabian horses. Their 10 day old colt was the star of the show. The kids were fascinated by it's every move and loved to watch him kick his heels, run with the herd and especially feed him peppermints. Marcos walked right to the fence and looked up, inches from the nose of the biggest horse. He got a big smile and said, "hi!" Max was a little more cautious (shocker) but took a turn riding. Cooper was most interested in the juice and cookies being served. Wilson made an immediate friend with "Freddy" the stallion and couldn't stop talking about him all the way home.

Today was our field trip day. Quite by chance, the kids spent the afternoon again riding horses at the Moxleys. Wilson helped brush and wash the horses and volunteered to come buck hay--for free. We are going to have to figure out some way for this city boy to spend time with horses. If Grandpa can do it, surely we can too. After horses we went to the Mellor's pond to do a little fishing. Cooper pulled out a good sized Bass within minutes (speaking of natural talents). Between the horses and the fish and the Mexi-fries, it was another successful field trip.

There is a literal epidemic of divorces occurring in our little town. It makes me sick to my stomach to watch the confused and disrupted faces of the kids that are affected. What could possibly be so bad in all these marriages that the consequences of seeing your kids suffer would be worth it? How do I act toward adults who have knowingly abandoned children to gratify some selfish need? These questions have been pressing down on me like the sultry heat of the last few days.