Summertime

Enjoy this summer. Savor the long hot days, saturated with heat and color

Rodeos and lemonade

Haying and fixing fence.

Soon enough fall will be here and with it,

Gathering steers

Kids back to school and the air crisp with the promise of new habits put into effect and the big annual, invitational horse sale.

But for now, do yourself a favor and enjoy the remaining months.

Make flavored water with fruit or cucumbers. In a fit of luxury take all your pants to the dry cleaners and ask for the heaviest “rodeo” starch they’ve got. Take your baby to the barn with you and let her watch her mama ride. Make waffles and eat more than your fair share. Go to a concert. Start those colts that have been neglected. Iron your sheets and be amazed at how cool they feel. Watch an old black and white movie that ends predictably, happily ever after. Sit with your man as he shoes his horses: pull the old shoes, give him cold beer and hand him his tools. Watch and learn. Read a book that challenges you. Take a kid hiking. Remember that the bridle horse you want to show so badly is also your friend and partner. Take a grandparent fishing. Paint your toes shocking pink. Clean out that closet that’s been driving you crazy. Set a goal of how many pushups you want to be able to do by the end of summer. Buy fresh flowers and put them all over your house. Gather some kindling for this winter’s coming fires. Lie on the couch under a fan and take a nap. A long one. Forget to feel guilty. Make homemade pizza.

Enjoy the many small moments that make up the long summer season and maybe, just maybe, if the opportunity presents itself, jump in a hot springs and take a bath.

xo xo Liz