Tales from the Whistle Pig

Got your attention? Groundhog's Day 2012 rocked my socks off. The day began as dark and drizzly, but early afternoon gave way to clearing skies and mostly comfortable temperatures. Dear friend, MM, arrived just after my mid-day meal with her two mild mannered and sure-footed horses for our Imbolc bareback ride. I mounted the short stout one Marlene, while MM jumped up onto the lovely white Appaloosa, Winter. We walked, trotted and cantered through the long, narrow ridge-top pastures that descend from my home place, stopping to converse and allow the horses their snacking indulgences, all the while enjoying the mild and carefree quality to the old pagan first day of spring. In truth, the ride was rather short, as my horse-gripping leg muscles were more than a little rusty and un-used, but the feeling of moving through the fresh air over the cool mountain terrain with a dear friend was truly the stuff dreams are made of. After dismounting and re-acclimating to the strange sensation of carrying ourselves on our own two legs, MM and I made our way on our feet up to the Sunset Spot, which generously delivers a breath-taking view of Mill Ridge and Rich Mountain and beyond that in the distance, a misty vision of Bluff. We allowed the afternoon to ramble with ease through overgrown pastures and sweet, seldom used forest paths, stopping whenever we pleased to rest, admire the slick and muscular trunk of a young ironwood, examine a fallen bird nest, bask in the sun, chit-chat, what have you.
If the occurrences of February 2 can be decoded to foretell the season to come, I'll take it! Bring it on, 2012...