I woke up elated. Hunting season is over for now. There will be another bout later in the season. But there will be no hunters hunting in October. It’s like a heavy weight was lifted off my shoulders. I do not enjoy riding when “they” are out there, the camo men and their guns and smelly machines.

A few days ago, I came across an ATV. This was at the base of Peaches’ Trail. I do not know if it was abandoned or left by a hunter who took off on foot. Most likely it was the former because most hunters are not ambulatory.

Today dawned sunny and warm. It was the nicest day of the year. The leaves on the trees are falling – autumn snow I call it. Green and yellow, and orange. And the smell of the falling leaves and dying vegetation is in the air. I am not as excited about fall smells as I am about spring smells, but beautiful days like today are rare, and need to be appreciated.

Alys and Tyra

So, I cut out of doing BLBP work early, and first went swimming. It’s going well. I am now starting to swim laps, doing the crawl. Every so often I get into the rhythm and think – I could keep doing this. I then inhale when I should exhale and have to flip over and do some semblance of the backstroke. The lifeguard, as always, today he kept his eyes on me.

I then headed for home rather than in the direction of the hotel because it was such a nice day. And I rode all three horses. I think they were glad to get out.

The close landscape, with the multi-colored vegetation, and the distant landscape, with the snowcapped peaks, was dazzling. And during each ride, the angle of the sun was different, creating variations in the two landscapes.

As I rode, I remained deep in thought. These days I pretty much ride the same trails. The horses and me, we like the routine. But it would be fun to ride some different trails, and with other horseback riders.

My mind kept wandering, and I thought about those who I used to ride with who I no longer ride with. My friend Heather came to mind – she had a horse named Rio Rogue. We didn’t ride much together – he was a handful. Instead, we spent considerable time getting him into his trailer, which he hated.

And there was Brandy Carney, who owned Yelma and Hunar. She was one of the first to ride Raudi, and Raudi dumped her at the Murphy Road Trailhead.

And there was Vicki Talbot who purchased Hunar from Brandi. Vicki considered Hunar to be a small sport horse, and she spent most of her time on him jumping and doing dressage. She convinced me to take jumping lessons on Raudi – Raudi saw no sense in jumping something if she could instead walk around it or walk over it.

And there were so many others who now are at the distance. As I believe, change is a constant, and so others who I might ride with will soon materialize.

Next: 263. 9/27/24: My favorite Day of the Year