I can't take the way he sings but I love to hear him talk

I've been living in a golden world recently. Autumn supposedly arrived today, but our latitude has been enjoying fall sunlight angles for a few weeks. Golden light, golden rides, golden apples, fields of goldenrod. In a Charlie Bucket sort of way, because of horses in my life, I spend each day feeling like I've won a Golden Ticket! 

A golden ray of dusty light streams into the barn doors in the early morning and something about it reminds me of traveling as a child in the backseat of my parents car as we made our way through the south listening to (as Mick Jagger puts it) "gospel music on the coloured radio station". Sometimes when I'm cleaning stalls in that light I flip on either the Allman Brothers or a radio preacher. I can't make out the words too well, but the earnest twang in the background combines with the morning light to create the best time machine I've ever found. It is easy to believe in that space that I'm part of a less complicated, AM radio, ditsy-patterned-feedsack time. 

These photos are from midday so the light isn't quite as warm as in the morning, but still shows the gateway to my golden solitude. Entering our barn is something I will always treasure. I've walked through this doorway how many times? I was born in 1967 and probably started enjoying the barn a few years after. The earthy smell in here is a mix of hay and horses and the familiar "our barn" smell. I adore it! I'll never grow tired of that smell and I miss it each winter when nature's fragrances are all stolen by the cold temperatures.

My routine inside is always the same and never a chore:  I clean the stalls first. This is a silly-quick "task" since the horses are only in when I am riding. Therefore, the three stalls can be picked, turned and freshened with new sawdust if needed in about 10 minutes. Next, I throw hay bales from upstairs through a trap door into Foggy's stall. They've only started to get back into eating hay in the last week. My horses quit being interested in hay in late February or early March and restart it again this time of year. I sweep the barn and then the buckets have to be dumped and scrubbed and refilled (not my favorite part). I put grain in their feed tubs - Foggy and Sovey get approximately one cup of grain, Pie gets a tiny handful. 

I try to do all this without the boys noticing that I am on the property. I am sneaky because my absolute favorite thing is to go out to the outer pastures and collect them. If they see me or my car early, they will come running. Today they did not see me and I got to walk out to the highest point on the farm and look for them.

Sometimes I see three Loch Ness Monster humps barely visible above the goldenrod as they graze happily. Other times I can't find them at all which is the very best because it makes me feel like they get to live a truly "natural" life out away from people and man-made structures and objects. Today they were in the far finger pastures and their coats were unbelievably dark brown/black and shiny. When I see them I just squeal that they are MY horses! They are sooo beautiful! They do not run up to me if I walk out in their direction. If I talk to them they will go back to grazing and let me watch them as long as I want, but if they don't hear my voice they will snort and act like I am some sort of horrible predator.

They follow me toward the barn in a long, slow, walking train. Pie walks first behind me because that is the way it is done.

If you click this photo, above, you can see a quick video of a Pie ride through the goldenrod.

And if you click this trail photo above you can see Pie taking me through this part of our woods and then going off on a spur on his own because I wasn't paying attention!

Even cloudy, windy days have been fun this month. The horses are all enjoying the cool nights and breezy, bug-free days. Yesterday, a ride on Foggy got so long and involved and perfect, even though the wind was gusting and the skies were threatening rain, that I forgot my poor Maizie was playing tennis with friends back at the barn court. The guests had to leave and were afraid to leave her there alone since her irresponsible mother had left on a horse never to be seen again!

Of course, Maizie was perfectly fine and she assured our friends that she was used to this type of behavior from her errant, horse-obsessed mama. Later that evening, as if on cue, we found a package in our mailbox from the lovely Kristen and adorable Laz over at sweet horse's breath whose contents confirmed the understandable reason (as if there was any doubt) for my silly ways once and for all - Golden OTTB LOVE!!!!

Yes, it truly has been a golden week. This evening, while I typed this post, the setting sun was blinding me through our west window. This is how my phone captured it. Unbelievable.