Author: Dre

Categories
Life in general

Blur

There’s a softness in the sky that can only be seen as the sun begins to rise behind the mountains, blurring their peaks.

In that moment, every day, anything seems possible.

It’s so quiet here, when dark is no longer dark, and light is not yet light.

From where I sit, it’s as if the sky itself is dancing a perfectly choreographed waltz from a by-gone era.

The dark gives way to the light in such a spectacular way, right before my eyes.  Kindly.  Gently.  There is nothing else like it in all the world.

Soon, the day will begin.  The mountains will once again loom in the distance, their deep shadows creeping across the ground as the sun makes its daily trek across the sky.

But when I close my eyes, I see them in that moment… when anything at all seems possible.

Categories
Ranch Life

Xander

It’s hard to live on a ranch and not get attached to the animals.

This is Stella, my favorite cow.  She has the fuzziest ears and the softest nose.

The day after I took this photo of Stella, we woke up to find this new little guy taking his first wobbly steps through the pasture… her first bull calf.

At feeding time, the cows are usually really pushy, each of them wanting to get more than their fair share of hay.  But with Xander there, they were careful to give him plenty of space, never crowding him.  Cows are cool like that.

He has the cutest little knobby knees… and a nose just as soft as his mama’s.

Categories
Surviving

Unity

I posted this when I returned from BlogHer10 in New York City.  I know that was only a short while ago, but I wanted to post it again.

~Dre

——–

I have a secret.

Come closer and I’ll whisper it, softly, in your ear.

You are amazing. 

Do you know that?  Do you believe it?  You should. 

I just spent 5 days immersed in your teeming masses and I can tell you, my community, my people, that you are nothing short of spectacular.

There are a lot of people out there who believe that because you don’t have a location with precisely mapped borders, you aren’t real, and so they discount you as not being valuable.

But you are.  You are to me.

Look at the way you bring people together. 

Do you realize that without you, some of us would be completely isolated?  We may as well live in Antarctica for all the comfort and support our geographically appointed communities offer.

You make a difference in so many people’s lives, all over the world.

Let me say it again, louder this time.

You are amazing.

Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Categories
Ranch Life Work at Home

Fluff

I apologize for not having time to play with you lately, my lovelies.  I am caught in the space between.

The puppies, however, have plenty of time to play.

At 5 weeks, they’ve learned to run, but not gracefully…

providing endless amounts of entertainment.

With only a small amount of property damage.

And when they’re done playing, you know what time it is.

Naptime for them…

And break time for Mama.

And speaking of break time for Mama…. We Vibe.  Seriously, y’all. 

With special thanks to Sandy for giving me one, free, at BlogHer ’10 in NYC!

Categories
Life in general Marriage

The Life She Deserves

“Don’t wait,” she says in her soft southern drawl, her cool hand gripping my knee.  “Don’t you wait to live the life you deserve.”
Grandma & Dre

At 16, she met him and fell in love.

At 17, she tried to convince the Justice of the Peace that she was old enough to get married.  He didn’t believe her.

At 18, she married him, against her parents wishes.

At 20, he joined the military, and at 21 she gave birth to their only child, a son.

That same year, living alone in a strange place, she discovered that the kind and loving man she married had a violent and unpredictable dark side.

At 22, her mother told her that she’d made her bed, and now she would have to lie in it.  So she did, for 52 years.

At 40, she became a grandmother.

At 45, she buried her son.

At 74, she buried her husband.

At 76, she went on a date for the first time in nearly 60 years.

At 77, a man brought her breakfast in bed for the first time in her life.

At 78, she travels, she laughs, she goes to concerts, she eats out more than she cooks at home.

At 78, she visits for a week and we sit together, night after night, sipping wine.  She tells me, with a twinkle in her piercing blue eyes, about her adventures and the gentlemen friends she has waiting for her at home.

At 78, she is finally living the life she has deserved all along… one full of happiness.