Changes

 

I invited a friend, a typical city/suburban type, to spend her vacation with us on our ranch and she's certainly enjoyed it.  She marvels at the silence, the ability to hear the wind rushing through the grass, a leaf falling making a great crashing sound, as it seems.  She'd never seen the moon rise or set directly on the horizon, unblocked by buildings.  She'd never seen a shooting star or a satellite crossing the night sky, never seen the Milky Way, the North Star or any of the constellations. She'd never heard the sound of a bird's wings in flight or the singing of field mice underground in their nests (you don't believe that, do you?).  She marvels at the sky and clouds, having never seen cloud shadows race across the ground, never seen a storm front approach, filling the whole sky,  never heard the sound of rain approaching, never seen a whole rainbow....  

But, still, when she wants to know what the weather will be, she consults her cell phone instead of looking out the window or going out on the porch and looking, smelling, feeling, letting her senses tell her what is and what is coming.  I can't really fault her.  Most of her days have been spent indoors, often in offices without windows, or shopping malls or big stores illuminated by artificial lighting, the only sounds those of human activity, piped-in muzak, ventilation equipment, the only smells those of plastics and chemicals, old carpet, stale coffee, restaurant or cafeteria food, deodorants, perfumes and flatulence.  Even when she has gone outside building surrounded her, blocking the horizon, and the sounds of humanity were everywhere, especially all variety of internal combustion engines.

When I explain to her that north winds are cold, south winds are warm, southwest winds  are warm and humid, southeast winds bring rain, she is amazed.  And which direction is which, she asks.  I explain the sun rises in the east and sets in the west and she asks which way are those directions.

Since she's been here, she's discovered that she likes animals and has enjoyed working with the large animal veterinarian, assisting her with extracting semen from stallions (it ain't erotic, trust me), helping with calf birthing, treating dogs with rattlesnake bites and otherwise tending to all the creatures' ills and ailments.  She also likes helping to train them, especially the border collies, who make good cow dogs.  

She's lost weight since she joined us although her appetite is ravenous and she chows down like a champ, vacuuming up grub she'd have turned her nose up before:  corn bread and slow-cooked pinto beans served with maple syrup, apple sauce and campfire coffee; potatoes and chili peppers with  eggs all fried in bacon grease and served on pancakes with blackberry jam and apple butter and sides of ham, sausage and bacon.  After a day working hard outdoors it's all burned off.  She has some kind of phone app that tells her how many calories she's used and it says she is expending about 6,000 calories a day.  I tell her the men work far harder than she or I do and they need all the energy-rich food they can get.  Watching them, she can believe it, and understands the need for high-calorie food.  I remind her that the same sorts of work they are doing in spring weather they will be doing come winter and they will burn even more calories just keeping warm.  

Of course, we do have plenty of fruits and vegetables, most grown ourselves or growing wild -- apples, of course, but also, in season, pears, peaches, persimmons, cherries, grapes, strawberries, boysenberries,  blueberries, blackberries....  And we have fresh grown veggies, everything from rhubarb to radishes, in season, otherwise frozen or preserved.  But what keeps people working is the high energy foods.  They can't get enough of those.   Meals that would give cubicle drones heart attacks make for robust health in a horse wrangler, jingler and fence rider.  Taking noon shade under an old cottonwood, he'll happily unwrap a lunch comprising a thick roast beef sandwich spread generously with butter, a couple of boiled eggs, some corn dodgers and an apple turnover.

The ranch life seems to suit her.  She's tanned and fit and her rather depressed, withdrawn and cynical nature has turned sunny and outgoing and she smiles and laughs a lot.  She's up before dawn and in bed and sound asleep an hour or two after sunset.

Wherever there are deer there are pumas. They get thirsty too.

Since she's on vacation, she doesn't have to do any of those things she's been helping with and may do as she pleases.  And she does.  She likes riding her favorite horse, a mare we thought would be too much animal for her, but the horse gentles down at her touch.  She also enjoys going down to the creek or the ponds, which are stocked with trout, and skipping rocks, wading the shallows or swimming in the deep pools or in the ponds.  She'd never been skinny-dipping before and when I did it she was a bit surprised but was game to try it and soon discovered how delightful it is.  Now her clothes come off as soon as we spread a blanket.  There's no one around so what difference does it make?  Deer and other creatures often come down to drink, a sight that delights her.  We're into baby deer season and she is almost delirious with joy watching all the little ones trot behind their mothers, nurse and play.  The sight of a mountain lion coming down to the water astounded and frightened her, as well it should have, and suddenly she realized why and was glad that I always bring along a trusty Winchester .30-30 and have it handy at all times.  The old sailor saying that you may love the navy but the navy doesn't love you back applies to mother nature as well:  you may love the planet but the planet doesn't love you back.  To it you are just some other animal's food.

When we drive into the closest town, population 700, she marvels at how friendly people are.  Strangers say hello as you pass on the street and clerks, cashiers and wait staff chat with you.  In pleasant weather store doors are propped open so a breeze can waft through the aisles.  She was surprised to see a dog wander into the meat market and come out with a soup bone.  Of course, the county seat is bigger and not so cozy, but it offers plenty of shopping, dining and other entertainment.

Speaking of drives, she also marvels at the empty roads winding through delightful scenery.  She says it's like driving in a car commercial.  Her emotional drive also seems to have been changed.  She tells me that what she used to consider important now seems trivial, her daily life tedious and frustrating.  She doesn't want to go back.  She's been talking with our vet about becoming a veterinarian assistant and then a veterinarian technician.  The local community college offers an Associate of Science degree in registered veterinary technology. It takes a couple of years of study plus several hundred hours of internship with a veterinarian.  Our vet says she could use a good assistant, so maybe something will come of that.  Who would have thought that inviting someone to your home for a vacation would change the direction of their life?  I sure didn't.  I hope it turns out well.

“The blue sky, the brown soil beneath, the grass, the trees, the animals, the wind and rain and stars are never strange to me; for I am in and of and am one with them; and my flesh and the soil are one, and the heat in my blood and in the sunshine are one, and the winds and the tempests and my passions are one. I feel strangeness only with regard to my fellow men, especially in towns, where they exist in conditions unnatural to me, but congenial to them.” 
― William Henry Hudson