saying good bye

Every time I want to whine about the heat (which is often) I think about my horse friends out on Granite Road. In the Spring it was cool for a bit but now the land they roam is parched and brittle. Of course wild horses and burros put up with those conditions all the time. These more domesticated guys seem to do alright. Sometimes they are even frisky in the hot evening air. I know that the prance and gallop to my car has more to do with the possibility of there being carrots or apples in my purse than just my mere presence. There is a special comfort in stroking a horse and scratching his ears and head. It is instantly calming. So tonight we stand on our own sides of barbed wire fencing and I will say good bye and tell them about packing and the trip ahead. Eventually one will nudge me through the fence, "got any more carrots there"...makes me wonder if this is how a bartender feels at last call. Only the horse isn't asking for 'one more for the road' in quite the same way. The horses and I take turns with the roles of bar keep and client...listener and the listened to, standing by barbed wire in the evening heat in the Central Valley.