The Great Escape

Going to the store is always a special occasion here on the ranch .A perfectly synchronized event between barn chores finished...and barn chores started again. Between rugs on and rugs off....between noon and losing daylight. Christmas shopping in this particular Sikora household can be particularly harrowing.... Greg is a "man on a mission" shopper, invariably access to the store is through the nearest door...exit or entrance and the first question is uniformly..."so exactly WHY are we here ? who are we buying for and what are we buying ? This year.....I think my Christmas Grinch has had a chill pill. Shopping has been enjoyable...no pressure and the Christmas lights twinkle so much more brightly over our little mound of red and gold parcels. Today we went shopping with Mom. Sadly the weather didn't match any seasonal mood that all the Christmas lights, excess candy and mulled wine invoked. As dawn broke over the horizon and the big ranch Chevi truck pulled into the barnyard vast grey rain clouds scuttled across the Wintery sky.  In the stall, preparing Charm the golden palomino gelding for yet another day weathering the elements, the question was asked..."Maureen what is the weather prediction for today ? Unhesitating ( I watch Fox 13 and MJ Fox 13 weather guru "advised a jacket with a hood") I replied, smugly in the know.... rain this morning....and rain(ier)  this afternoon ! Fortunately for me and even more fortunately for Tonto the little Paso Fino gelding, I was almost right ! It REALLY rained this morning and was torrential this afternoon !! We arrived at the store just as the "torrential" was making it's presence felt with raindrops the size of quarters bouncing off a pavement running like a fast flowing creek and we left the store ( having spent what seems like half of the National reserve) with the rain unabated and the creeks looking more like  raging white water !! Spirits were still high when the cell phone rang.  Unaware of the impending disaster, I took the call....CRISIS !!! Still 15 minutes from home and our friendly local neighborhood sheriff was calling to let us know that we had had a breakout....he was currently containing the escapees but being more used to two legged felons he was unsure of the correct procedure with four legged absconders....and roundups are no longer in the sheriff's "how to" manual. A frantic call to another horse friendly neighbor and we arrive to see two unconcerned horses grazing the roadside and two drenched and two very relieved to see us novice horse wranglers ( and a chubby black lab) ! Clearly the two equine new comers to the ranch had conspired to check out the real estate, visit the neighborhood residents, take an impromptu swim through the ranch pond, test out the ranch fencing and give the neighbors, their people and us a virtual heart stop.   A new notice will be appearing by the pond..."SWIMMING POOL CLOSED FOR THE SEASON. LIFEGUARD BUSY FIXING FENCES". Guess what we are going to be doing Christmas week in the rain ?? Ho Ho Ho !!!!

Today was Mom Sikora's first full day back at the ranch, she has spent the day negotiating the kitchen, avoiding dog bowls dog beds and...dogs. She patiently observed the horse shenanigans from the safety of the truck and she is once again becoming accustomed (grudgingly) to the wind and rain that is an integral feature of the Pacific north West Winter.  Welcome back Mom, we are excited to have you back for the next four weeks.

Please spare a moment to pray for someone very special to me.  Mum J had the worst news today. She is beginning the fight of her life and still managed to be more concerned about me than about herself. Fight hard Mum...remember you are a feisty Texan. I love you..

Time to go, keep safe and dry. M