Happy Birthday 2 Me

Yep, 48 years young; at least that is how I feel...today. Today has been a pretty good day. Went to the barn this morning; communed with all my critters. The work can be a bit hard, and this morning the temperature read 23*. I had to layer up to keep warm, but after fifteen minutes or so the first layer got peeled off. Funny how quick you can heat up working.

Physical work is not something I have filled my life with prior to becoming a horse owner. Not that I did not shovel share of manure as a kid, we had ponies and cows, and goats. We had to work in the garden, do chores around the house.
After high school, and my first college drop-out I spent almost a year working for Royal China, a dish pottery in Ohio. The kilns used for baking the green ware were not too far from my work station so it was always very warm. Hot! My job was strenuous at times, lifting stacks of greenware I had stacked on a waist-high board to a shelf an arms length ahead and above. I guess I had forgotten how hard that was for eight hours at a time. But then I was quite young and the $3.10 we made on third shift seemed like a fortune. I said it was a while ago. Minimum wage was only $1.65 and I had worked for that for several years. The pottery sweat shop seemed like the dream job.

All that being said, the physical labor of the animal care seems to be therapeutic. Barn work brings that immediate gratification found when hard work's evidence is quickly demonstrated. The grateful munching and snorting of the horses is almost melodic. A horse will stick its nose down in the water bucket and quietly draw a long, long drink; except for Sonny who sounds like little kid blowing bubbles in the bath tub, or maybe in his chocolate milk. Now that is a funny sound. When he brings his dripping nose back up, he shakes his head, snorts and goes back to munching. Sitting, drinking a cup of coffee while the dogs, cats, and horses eat their morning fare is one of the most relaxing, peaceful moments of the day.

So this morning I went to the barn, all bundled up against the cold. Ice almost an inch thick sealed off the outside buckets and water dishes. The electric heated buckets are still on a shelf in the feed room, taking them down and using them means watching the electric bill soar. So for now I will chip away the ice until freezing temps become more regular and the ice fills the buckets instead of just skimming the surface.

I let the new horses out into the main pasture this morning. I figured it was time and they could celebrate my birthday with a little extra freedom. I celebrated with Drew up at the house sitting at the kitchen table; watching those two introduce themselves to Cool and Sonny kept me from the shower and made us late for church. Missing that preformance though would have lessened the joy of the day. The fearless chocolate pony quickly goes nose to nose with Cool who is never anxious to socialize with new folks. She snorts indifferntly, but does not back away from the show. Mr. Fearless sachets over to the cows and sniffs noses with the larger meaner one. Typically the cows are quite intimidated by the horses. Justifyably so, since Sonny thinks thier purpose in life is his entertainment. When he is bored tormenting his mom, or trying to get Cool's attention; Sonny's cow pony breeding surfaces and the shorter, rounder mooing pasture-mates are soon running in several directions at once.

Funny, I want to write about the joys of my birthday, today's smiles and chuckles, but I keep relaying more general details of my daily life. Maybe, that is what made today special, its ordinaryness. The difference is I think I paused a bit longer to enjoy and appreciate my life. Simple, physical, visceral in sound and smell, spirital, I did not even get to that. The fact that Jesus chose to be born in a barn is never far from my thoughts. It truely amazes me that the hay, the manure; that perfect perfume of warm horse flesh; all evidence of the common life the Creator chose this as his nursery. His first sounds, the incredible musical muching of large teeth on hay, contented snorting, a calf complaining impatiently for his morning grain, kittens mewing; a symphony of animal melodies providing the lulaby for the Child King. How blessed am I to daily sit in awe, listening to the same holy song.
Wow! and that was all before nine thirty this morning. He is so so good.