The Loneliest Little Flower

 
Sunday April 21 2013

The tiny seed dreamed. It yearned to burst up from under the earth and grow into the most immense and towering and important and beautiful of all the spring flowers, and to touch the Owyhee heavens.

It grabbed onto the lone raindrop that fell back in February and hid inside it, until the time came to drink. The seed became the raindrop which became a plant which became new life, shoving the sand grains aside and climbing upward, gulping oxygen and sunshine, shooting down roots and firing up a stem, spinning off brilliant yellow petals at the top and erupting into a stunning bright flower.

But above the earth the desert was endless and the skies vast and the flower found itself tiny and insignificant in the great Owyhee world. There it stood, anchored to the earth, a minuscule speck in the universe, unable to grow big and tall enough to reach the skies like it had dreamed, the solitary, odd, and unimportant flower in a sea of sand, no other plants or creatures around to see and share its beauty.

Until one day the earth shook near the little flower and the strangers came. Where there was nothing, 12 tall legs appeared, then shadows, then 6 more legs, then more shadows, then voices and neighs praising the beauty and bright color and intelligence and  bravery of the little flower that was clever enough to hold onto the little raindrop until the right time, and brave enough to emerge by itself and proudly hold court in the desert of Owyhee.

The lucky strangers went on and the little flower remained behind, bright and happy to be part of the earth and still touch the Owyhee skies and the creatures' hearts, happy to be the Loneliest, Prettiest, Little Flower in Owyhee, the center of the universe.

Owyhee Spring Showers

Tuesday April 16 2012

The Owyhee spring always brings the unpredictable weather: WIND, rain showers, sun, cold, WIND, thunderstorms, and the stealth snowstorm.


Twisted as I am, I was the only one on the whole crick who woke up thrilled to see a surprise layer of white on the ground this morning (possibly including the horses).

These are MY kind of spring showers!

Owyhee Spring

Friday March 22 2013

With the Owyhee spring comes the unpredictable weather: heat, cold, rain, wind, and the surprise snowfall.

It's a treat to wake up to the unexpected white stuff on the ground.

But, oh, that cold wind! Its roaring grates on your nerves, sets your teeth to gnashing, and stands your goosebumps on alert and your neck hairs on end.


The horses turn tail to the blusterous gales, and I hunker down inside, watching the snow evaporate and listening to the howls.

Thunderous

Monday April 16 2012

There are some sights and sounds that make no mistake of the arrival of Spring in Owyhee: green grass, snakes on the road, birds on nests, the shrinkage of glistening white on the mountains, a thunderstorm…

and Stormy, in a thunderous run with the herd down the canyon.

My, that old Thoroughbred can still run. ♥

Tough Sucker I Vet In

Sunday April 8 2012

Time for the first local endurance ride of the season: reuniting with old friends and my heart horse, Jose, and yes I was wearing his vest!

Here's a little movie I put together of the vetting in. In the next day's ride, I wore a helmet cam! Movie of that coming up next.

Buggars!

Friday March 23 2012

Seriously? The first day of spring, it snowed.

The second day of spring, it blew gales.

The third day of spring, we had a good long ride, and afterwards,

the buffalo gnats came out!

Full force. Straight for the ears, driving the horses mad -
pinning ears and swishing tails,

shaking heads,


shoving heads under buddies' tails,

swirling in aggravated tight herds.




We totally skipped spring and went straight to summer - AND GNATS!

ARGHHH!

Twenty Miles

Thursday March 22 2012

We are working toward our first 50 mile endurance ride of the season, the Owyhee Tough Sucker I, on April 7. Normally we'd have plenty of time to get the horses in tip top shape, but what with the bizarre weather - snow, rain, mud, hurricanes, repeat - and the trip to the AERC Convention in Reno, and an upcoming road trip where we won't be back home till 5 days before the Tough Sucker, we felt we had to get a 20 mile ride in on the horses.

We made a long loop toward the Snake River, trotting much of the way, on soft ground, mostly flat and with only gentle climbs. Even though the horses are starting to shed madly, they still have enough of a coat where they worked up a thorough sweat (yes, even Jose's eyebrows sweated again).

We were grateful for the most excellent strong cool breeze that caught up with us right near the end of the ride, most especially because the DANG GNATS are suddenly out!

By my GPS, we covered 15.7 miles (and if you add the 10%, that's 17 miles), close enough to the 20 we aimed for, in just over 2 1/2 hours.

I think *I* ended up much more tired than Jose - I was the one who needed the 20 mile ride!

[slide show here]

Nobody Here But Us (Wet) Chickens

Saturday March 17 2012

With odd weather all over the country, Owyhee is getting its share of wetness. It's so slick, there's no thundering down the canyon - the horses walk around carefully in the mud.

Everybody looks like a wet chicken, including the cats who run through the rain then stop to lick their paws - as if that will help anything.

Jose, up top, strikes a handsome wet chicken pose.

I think that of all the herd Mac most enjoys being dirty as he can get. It's probably like a dark-haired human going platinum blond for a while, only vice versa.

The salt block is a quite popular social gathering place in the winter. The mud probably gives it a special spicy flavor.

Stormy isn't irritated by being photographed as a wet chicken; he doesn't like being bothered when he's eating.

More of the wet stuff and white stuff to come! Winter is not ready to leave yet, and I'm not ready to let it go!

Proliferate

Sunday June 19 2011

Every spring, we seem to have some plant that runs so riotous as to become memorable.

One year it was the Indian paintbrush. Last year it was the globemallow wildflowers.


This year it's the cheat grass. Proliferating beyond all sensible proportions. Thick carpets of it, sometimes knee high. The horses like it when it's green; but as soon as it turns reddish brown, they aren't much interested in it.


Which is a shame, because that's when the seeds start sticking to everything. They get in your socks and shoes, and drive you mad with their irritating skin poking. I've heard rumors it can get in a dog's ear, pierce its eardrum and go all the way into the brain. I wouldn't doubt it because it's wicked stuff, able to work its way around to places unwelcome - I expect it has barbs that anchor it from going backwards.

It's an invasive species in many places - sometimes you'll see it called an "infestation". Rapid elongation of the root system and prolific seed production help it elbow out the native grasses. It can germinate in the spring or fall and is very adaptable to new environments.

It comes up earlier and uses up the water and nutrients needed by other perennial native grasses, and it has a short growth period and therefore is highly flammable earlier than native grasses. And it's so thick in this part of the country now - even more reason for me to be afraid of lightning.


And it gets into and sticks to your Easyboot Gloves like crazy. Judy had warned me of it. "I spent HOURS getting the seeds out of my boots yesterday!" Carol had put duct tape over the velcro straps of her horse's Gloves. I did the same, but the duct tape failed and slipped during our ride, making the velcro a super magnet for the seeds.


After some experimenting, where Steph found that taking a scissors blade and scraping it back and forth over the seeds is the best way to remove the worst of it, followed by tweezers for the individual near-impossible-to-get pieces, it still took me over an hour to clean the boots.

Judy suggested I try vet wrap around the velcro straps next time. Anybody else had this problem before?

Spring Fling

Friday May 6 2011

We're getting ready for the aptly named Eagle Spring Fling endurance ride, which is happening this weekend about 1 1/2 hours north of here (or, 2 1/2 hours if you take into account stopping for human food and horse food along the way).

The trailer is getting packed; Steph is honing the final trim on the bare feet.

The ride is outside of Eagle, and spring really is here... although there is rain in the forecast. Some would like to blame me for this; however, I am the Ice Princess, not the Rain Princess.

Besides - a little rain should keep the dust down, and make the footing perfect, right?

Ever After

Sunday April 30 2011

...and the sun came out, the snow faded away...

and they all lived Happily Ever After.

It Ain't Over 'Till It's Over

Thursday April 28 2011

Here it is, almost May, and so I scoffed at the forecast that says 80% chance of rain/snow tonight. The temperature did drop rather quickly and somewhat fiercely with a brisk north wind while I was out on a ride at noon... but I could scarcely believe my good luck surprise late afternoon when it started to snow.

Confused?

The weather is.

The horses are.

Here they'd gone and shed their winter coats already, and now they got another chill blast.

Turning tail to blowing snow while grazing.


Rhett is bewildered.


Into the flurry, heads cocked sideways.




Hurry up and get it over with.


Can you see the Owyhees? I can't either, because they are in an almost-May snowstorm!


Nothing for it but to eat hay


or sit tight and wait it out.


An experienced ranch horse knows how to huddle up and hunker down and ignore things.


Is it a late spring? Is it still winter?

Doesn't matter, because of course you know me, I'm not complaining. I think Mother Nature sent one more snowfall just for me, The Ice Princess. : )

Against The Wind

Wednesday March 30 2011

Normally, Wind and Thunderstorms are anathema to me. The one is supremely annoying and the other exceptionally terrifying.

But it had been so long that I'd been on a horse (over a whole week) that I didn't care about The Wind today.


We worked our way up Pickett Canyon, up onto the ridge and into the cool gales ripping over and rolling down from the Owyhee Mountains. We mostly walked, working the hills

and sand washes.


A blanket of low silver clouds levitated on top of the Owyhees, frozen in the up and downdrafts while down on the flats gusts whipped manes and tails first to one side

then to the other.


No point in talking because The Wind blew the words out of Owyhee County before they fell on anyone's ears.

But Jose and I didn't mind the buffeting today on the Owyhee Front.