Navajo Cowboy

February 27, 2022

Hello again,

Well, our favorite Navajo cowboy, Emerson, stopped by again this week to help us trim Freedom's hoof. Unfortunately, she wasn't in the mood to be cooperative and he ended up going home without even having gotten his tools out of his car. The first time that he came, I casually sauntered out to the corral between 10 and 11 in the morning, after having left hay in and around it, and I was able to smoothly separate Freedom from the rest of the horses. I should have known that this was a one-time event. The rest lingered for the next hour or so until he showed up and then watched in a combination of horror and jealousy while we trimmed her front hooves and then the whole show was over. This time, I went out a little earlier in the morning and was met by the whole ensemble of horses in and around the corral, but Freedom and her smaller pod were all on the outside and the main group was hogging the inside of the ring. Try as I may, I was not able to coax her in and the others out. A few of them were even standing guard at the entrance to the corral, not letting the members of the smaller pod in. So, I just backed off and came back an hour later, but with no more success. Again, right before Emerson got there, I tried to go out and get her in there one last time, even to the point of standing over the threshold of the gate, but could not get her to walk into the ring. As I was doing this, Emerson appeared and she just started walking and didn't look back until she was about 100 yards away and then just stood there, almost daring us to walk after her. He just smiled and told me that he had the feeling on the way up that she wasn't going to be cooperative. So, our hoof-trimming session turned into an impromptu Navajo lesson, the first being that they refer to themselves as Diné and their land as Dinétah. Then, I was told how to greet someone and then say goodbye to them and was told that I was actually pronouncing things well. So, with that wind in my sails, I then promised a complete dialogue in Navajo upon his return...so, it's time to put up or shut up. I'm on call to get her into the corral any way that I can in the next few weeks and he'll run up from Albuquerque to help me out. So, a great interaction with a very interesting person, plus language lessons, but in the end, we ended up with an even spookier horse than the last time!

In other affairs, the weather is looking to be gorgeous for this upcoming week. It looks like every day is going to be between 65 and 70 all of a sudden, with much higher overnight temperatures. It will be short-lived, I can only assume, with at least one more cold snap in store for us, but for the meantime, we'll take it! It has been zero degrees at dawn within the last week, so here's to the warmth and the preservation of the wood pile! Erin has assembled her seeds and cleaned out all the beds in the garden. Very soon she will be taking the buggy out into the pasture to get a few loads of horse manure to scatter over the beds. Next will be spreading the huge pile of wood chips that we have(fragrant juniper and pinyon!) on all of the garden paths. And, as always, she needs to keep working on all of the irrigation lines. Just like me and the miles of vacuum lines in my two old diesels, Erin is always chasing drip lines and trying to take out dead ends and finding where small leaks are. Onion sets seem almost impossible to get out here, so she's been trying to find them, looking high and low. We missed the small window last year of availability, just having gotten here, and figured that seeking them out earlier would work, but to no avail. She keeps being told that they'll be in soon, presumably only to be sold out within the week, so it's all up to luck and the interval of our trips into town at this point. We've been hearing lots of ducks on the pond again, which had some over the winter, but nothing like the numbers that we're hearing now. And, the kittens have been extra boisterous and sprinting all over the place outside, endlessly giving the dogs something to chase!

And, finally, here is another shot of pictures for everybody to enjoy. First up, four shots of the dogs while out on a walk earlier this week: first, Ela & Willow enjoying the view; then, Willow & Rui on the trail; then, a closeup of Willow; and, finally, a shot of Rui checking out the path heading towards Barillas in the distance. Next, a shot of one of Erin's many amazing dinners that she so effortlessly whips up...refried bean tostadas! Then, three shots of a Barbary sheep skull that Erin and the boss found while out hiking recently: first, in situ; then, on the boss's chair outside of her front door; and, lastly, a closeup that she took with her camera, showing much more detail. Next, a shot of the sun going down in the west with hazy clouds distorting everything. Then, a shot from out walking with the dogs on the way back down the old 'road' from the neighboring lot to the north...it needs a little work! Next, four shots of the local paraglider that we see very regularly in the skies above the ranch: first, over the pasture; then, isolated in the sky; and, finally, two shots mixed in with jet trails and the sun. Then, one of our cacti out here, as they appear in late February. And, finally, a shot that Erin took just north of Las Vegas of the United World College, a local university where juniors and seniors from all around the world get to move in and live and study together, apparently one of many such campuses that this university has around the world. And, that's all for now.

Take care.