Beautiful dogs, black stallions, mountain sunsets, party planning and riding with the wild things

September 27, 2025

"I'm not sure what I'm witnessing"  Grace said as they approached the arena.  Skye hesitated for a moment.

"I'm just going to say it...that's not a horse..."

You've been hanging out with my daughters too much"  Anoush replied.  "He's a Scottish Deerhound.  We're getting some nice pictures of him.  He's in a foster home right now and his foster people are pretty fond of him, but they haven't asked to adopt him yet."

Anoush traded out the deerhound for another wheaten colored dog, but the similarities ended there.  

"Oh my goodness who is this?" Skye squealed.  "Look at this face!  I think I'm in love.  Is this a...shepherd and St. Bernard cross?"

"Anatolian Shepherd"  Anoush answered.  

"Oh!  Well I don't think the boss ever met a shepherd she didn't fall in love with, so maybe we can foster this one."

"Skye, or Grace and Skye, maybe"  the boss interjected, "can you bring down some calves?  Maybe three?"  

"Sure"  Skye responded.  What she wasn't entirely sure about was how they would actually separate out three calves from the more or less feral larger group, with the intention of taking them to another location.

"I'll go with you" Grace said.  Skye heaved a sigh of relief.  Surely the two of them could come up with a plan.

Anoush brought out a German Shepherd next.  

"You'll let me know if this one doesn't work out in his new home or something doesn't go to plan, right?"  the boss said as she took picture after picture.

"Of course."

The final canine was a bit smaller than the first three.  Silver grey and white, long coated, with two-toned eyes.

"This one"  Anoush said.  "I am very tempted to keep this one.  I don't know that she's had any formal training, and I don't know what the proper commands are even if she has."

Grace and Skye delivered three calves into the arena.  Once separated from the larger herd, they were much easier to work with than the girls expected.  

Everyone had seen television programs with border collies racing at top speed to control their domestic charges.  This girl had a different approach.  She was lightning quick to stop a breakaway, but then, she was mostly still.  A solid presence anchoring the moment and the creatures in it.

"I thought border collies were black and white" Skye mused.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       "Is she an Aussie mix?"

"She's a merle" Anoush answered.  "Now whether she's a slate merle or a blue merle I'm not sure, but purebred border collies can come in a surprising number of colors."

Before the sun slipped below the horizon, the boss brought out the new stallion.  

"He's so gorgeous, and so hard to photograph" the boss lamented.  There wasn't much daylight left, and getting him to stand in the fleeting patches of sunlight, affected by clouds, by shadows of the pines, was at best difficult.  At one point he prepared to roll, and of course, that would make for a sub-par show photo.  The boss took pictures until the sun slipped below the horizon.

The evening was glorious.  The girls went out with the truck to catch the sunset from the highway, but it looked as if it had been swallowed by a bank of clouds. They stopped instead to look east toward Mount Waterman.

Here too, clouds quickly covered the sky-scape.

"Wanna head up the road and see what's left of the sunset before we head back?"   Grace asked.

"Sure."

They arrived just in time.  It was a fleeting, burning, beautiful site, with clouds pouring in across the mountain tops, tinged with the pink hues of last light.

Skye lingered outside well after sunset.  The clues continued to catch light from a sun long departed.  The night was so glorious.  It was hard to go back inside.

A great horned owl swept past Skye, lit in a tree, then flew down into a bush; then back into the air, disappearing into the darkening landscape.  It was the time of the night animals.  A whole different cast would rule the forest now.

September 28

"Does the light always change this fast?"  Skye asked.  "Not that long ago if we were out before 4 PM we'd be in full sunshine."

"There are some days where we lose more or less daylight than others.  The rate of change isn't exactly consistent, if I understand it correctly.  Like let's say most days we are losing seven minutes of daylight each day, then there is a span of several days when we lose 12 minutes of daylight per day.  I'm swagging the numbers but I suspect I'm not too far off."

Something moved on the mountain behind them.  Distant, camouflaged by its surroundings, but definitely in motion.  A red tailed hawk plied the distant south facing mountain behind the ranch.The girls watched quietly.

"Well, what do you think of this location for the campout?"  Skye said.

Grace answered with a question.  "When you say everyone, who all are you thinking of inviting?"

"Definitely Anoush, Anahit and Lousin.  Maybe the girls Anoush cares for?  And if they come, Crystal and Heather maybe?  Because those girls are high energy!"

"And they're always barefoot too, so this might not be a great place for them.  It's awful rocky.  What about the pony girl?"

"Oh yeah!  Chance! And...Jessica!  That'd be awesome.  Maybe we can talk the boss into coming too."

"What about Dude?"

"I think...this should be a girl's night"  Skye said hesitantly.  "Do you think that's mean?"

"No.  I think it's okay if you want to have a girl's sleepover.  I also think it's okay if you change your mind and invite him."

The tell-tale alarm of ground squirrels gave away the presence of a predator.  The calls came from the south, then the west.  The girls were pretty sure all they'd have to do is wait.

They were right.

Coyote appeared rather close, skirting around the back of the ranch, coming upon them unexpectedly.  Pausing, making a quick assessment, trotting away on the diagonal.

"Now that's some camouflage"  Grace said quietly.

And then down the road Coyote went.  

The girls moved on to another location, closer to the ranch, less rocky, but perhaps more suitable for potentially camping with small and usually barefoot children.

"The ground isn't exactly soft here"  Skye said, "but at least it's actually dirt and not rocks."

"It's not completely level either"  Grace added, "but we can make some little level spots for tents."

There was activity all around them.  Birds made no secret of their foraging forays.

"This location is almost too close to the ranch"  Skye remarked.  "I mean, we can see the patio lights from the main house.  We're probably close enough to have internet reception too."

"True.  But it's not like we're back country mountaineers packing our provisions in on a mule team.   Our mule is probably going to be the truck."  Skye smiled.  Grace was right.

"I'm so excited"  Skye said.  

"Well, remember a few things"  Grace cautioned.  "High wind or rain cancels.  Not everyone you invite may be able to come.  And the boss has back to back events this coming weekend, and I don't know if she told you what happened earlier today."

"No!  What?"

"She was cleaning a horse's hooves and on the fourth hoof her back went out."

"Like...what do you mean 'went out?' Can she walk?"

"She can walk.  She can sit, lay down, get back up.  She can bend over.  But she can't lift anything.  The horse wasn't even putting any weight on her.  It was holding it's own weight.  Hopefully she'll be all right.  But how do you have horses if you can't clean their feet, you know?"

"She'll be all right" Skye said after a moment's pause.  "She'll be all right.  She doesn't have any choice.  She's just gotta be all right."

"Let's hold that thought"  Grace affirmed.

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