May Flowers...and the return of Petrichor

May 5, 2024
Sunday dawned crisp and windy. An overnight rain left the land refreshed and glorious. Spring's flowers were getting ready to emerge in a big way.

The girls studied the landscape from the relative comfort of the Jeep. Grace thought she saw something move.  She edged the Jeep slowly along the rock ledge, hoping for a better view.  Late afternoon shadows played on the moving grasses and flowers.  Then Skye saw it too.

Moving shadows. Darting across the loose, rocky soil, horse shaped, curving with the contours of the land.

Grace rolled the Jeep forward more, trying to get a better look. Skye looked down over the edge for a moment.
"Whoa Grace, whoa..."

They saw the mare first. A big mare, a liver chestnut sabino, big head, big feet, big body. She was no minuscule mustang.  Her foal followed on her heels, a little copy of its mother, but with different facial markings, less body white, and big ears on a small head. The girls saw them for just a fleeting moment, and then the foliage, lush with spring, obscured their view, and the mare and foal slipped out of sight.  The girls, bundled in their ponchos, watched and waited, but the land fell still and silent again.

Back in the shelter of home, they pondered what they'd seen.

"I think we can say with certainty that something is happening with the wildies" Skye said. "And it just keeps getting more interesting."

"What though..." Grace replied. "Is this just the way of it? Herds aren't really sleepy and stable, they're dynamic and constantly changing and this is normal...or is something upsetting the balance."

Skye didn't have an answer. And today's sighting certainly didn't make anything more clear.

May 10
It was more or less suddenly high spring.  Flowers were blooming everywhere.
Skye could hardly watch the trail ahead for wanting to see the flowers. Grace was more focused on the changing sky.

Popcorn flower was one of Skye's favorites. There were so many varieties, from miniscule, low growing flowers to tall, showy shrubs. She had to get a better look...and carefully, because a tarantula wasp was also checking out the flowers.

Clouds were building quickly in the west. A T cell, Grace surmised. And then she heard a sound.

She'd never heard anything like it before, and it was coming toward them. A shrill vibration, almost like a racing drone; and then she saw it. It was no drone, but two birds, a pigeon flying for its life with a pursuer close behind, the air being ripped apart by the blinding speed of their flight.

The pigeon flung itself into the shelter of a thick pine tree and the pursuer swerved left. Chase over.

The predator circled, flying past the girls again at a much slower speed. A peregrine falcon.

"That was amazing!" Skye said, excited.

"Yeah it was. These clouds are pretty amazing too. Let's head back to the ranch."

"Oh man, we've got hours before dark. Besides, I'd love to see some lightning."
"Have you ever seen lightning up close?" Grace asked. "It's pretty scary. It's awesome and impressive for sure."  A little reluctantly, Skye submitted.  Probably nothing would happen, probably there would be no lightning.  But it was one of the things Grace was cautious about, so they headed toward home.

Grace had gotten accustomed to the helicopters working in Chilao, as had all the horses and dogs and everyone else. Men flying through the air tethered to a line was hardly reason to pause any more. As they rode back, the helicopters were coming in, carrying their various human and inanimate loads.

"Do you suppose the line workers are coming in because of the clouds?" Skye asked.

"Coincidence, I think" Grace replied. "It's near day's end on a Friday. I think they want to be in their cars and trucks and heading home at 5 PM. But if it wasn't almost 5 PM...yeah, they might be coming in to let the storm pass."

And the storm passed over...leaving a little rain somewhere down the mountain, leaving the night sky clear, dissipating as suddenly as it formed.

May 18
Wait until the afternoon, they told Skye, or go out in the morning, the light is better then for taking pictures.  Well, it wasn't exactly early morning or late afternoon, but Skye decided to give photographing the flowers a try.

There was only going to be one way to do these flowers justice, and that was getting down on the ground with them.

The boss's old camera was fickle, but when it chose to focus on the same things Skye wanted to focus on, it was amazing.  The day ws deliciously warm, the air was cool.  All was quiet and peaceful.

Even the invasive cheat grass was a work of art to view through the lens.  Skye found tall, slender stalks with green and white stripes and a bulging, unopened flower. A lily of some sort, Skye guessed.  It was easy to lose herself in the beauty. Beauty all around.  

Shadows played on the landscape.  Skye was distracted by a shadow that seemed to be moving. She looked up from a bed of yellow and white flowers.  With a clatter of hooves on stone the shadow turned and moved away.

Skye tried to follow with the camera. Formidable foliage stood in her way.  But she was sure of what she saw. It was Petrichor. At last. And then he was gone.

She could hardly wait to tell Grace. No. Maybe just show her the pictures...and watch the look on her face.  Her beloved Petrichor, whom they had seen little of in recent months...Grace would probably know exactly how long it had been since they'd seen him last...alive and well.

May 19
Evening shadows were about to envelope the mountain.  Grab and Skye had gone on foot to Mustang Rock.  The presence of wild horses had been foretold by their domestic horses, so the girls moved cautiously, trying to stay out of view, hoping to get close to the wildies without being seen.  Skye crept up a stone slope soundlessly.

"Can you see anything?" Grace whispered.

Skye could. Barely.

And then so could Grace.
"A goldie" she whispered.

Highlander caught wind of the girls.

"Palomino?" Skye asked.

"Dun?" Grace responded with a question.

"Dunalino?"

Grace smiled. "I don't know. Time will tell."

The herd moved away, slowly.  Red bugler penstamen made a thin cover. But somehow, the girls could tell Highlander wasn't going to charge them.

th dun mare was a good momma, protective and attentive to her young foal.

"It's a colt!" Sky said softly.

"Yes it is."

The girls watched until the horses moved out of view. This was the first foal born to Highlander's band, and he was unusually calm. No need to mess up a beautiful moment by pressing in too close.  The trees captured the day's last light as the girls headed back to the ranch.  The horses slipped away into the rugged land.


May 20
Skye was both frustrated by and falling in love with photography. Armed with the camera, all the world becomes a subject...even if tracking that subject as it does some unusual...or perhaps unexpected...behavior is difficult.  So it was as she tried to follow a red tailed hawk in what appeared to be the slow motion pursuit of a raven.  Sworn enemies, it seemed impossible that the hawk could be doing anything other than warding off the raven while expending minimal energy.  At the opposite end of the size spectrum, her next subject was a hummingbird.

It was high spring and the skies were busy, with all nature of things.

Grace had grown accustomed to the helicopters, as had most everyone. Still, it wouldn't be a day to expect wild horses to be hanging around.

The girls took a walk to the seasonal stream below the fire station. The local rivulets of water would dry soon. They had been so fortunate to have water for this long. Best to honor it with their attention while they could.  Each amazing detail, from minute flowers and mosses to water insects.

The dogs in the water roused an unexpected resident, a tree frog as they are commonly known.  People flying through the air was becoming a common sight.

"I think they're taking a video!" Skye said.

"I think you're right" Grace said. "It's not an every-day view to get a video from, that's for sure."  

Skye waved, wondering if in fact they were in the video. And off to work the linemen  went, flying through the air.

Skye found a flower she'd never seen in Chilao before.

"I think it's a kind of mallow" Skye said.

"One of the boss's friends will know" Grace assured her

May 25
Late afternoon in Chilao, and calm for a holiday weekend. The girls listened, looked.  Precious and Missed A Spot were equally attentive, in their mature, calm way.  Grace just had a feeling.  The horses were focused.

There! They saw him. Just for a fleeting moment, but unmistakable. It was Petrichor.

They rode carefully down the rock escarpment to where he'd stood moments earlier. Grace swung a leg over Spot's neck, smiling. She whispered to Skye.

"Hold my beer."

Skye saw a flash of purple in the flowers, mingled in the red.  A hummingbird.
And then other movement.  But she couldn't say anything.  She didn't want to startle anyone.

Grace moved quietly down the rock face.  Out in the open now, Grace could see to the stream, a trickle of water still flowing.

Skye could see Petrichor's band, less the black mare she called Thorn.

And Skye could see Petrichor.

As Grace moved quietly over the rocks, a lizard came toward her, stretching itself on the rock she was traversing, nearly at her feet. And instead of moving away at her approach, it just stayed there. The lizard closed its eyes for a few moments and appeared to be napping.  Completely comfortable with her. Almost touching her boot.  It was fascinating, and unusual behavior, and Grace was mesmerized by the intricate detail of the lizard's coloring that allowed it to blend so seamlessly into the rocks.

Precious, Skye's mount, let out a short, warning blow, breaking the lizard's spell. Grace spun around.  Petrichor was behind her.

There was a lot of prancing around, ear flicking, tail swishing, every now and then a loud breath.  The stallion had a lot of little scars and scrapes, but overall Petrichor looked healthy. Then she noticed his eye. Something was different.

The right eye looked fine.  He came in slowly. Very slowly.

Grace moved her hand ever so soft and slow. He followed with his head until she could get a better look at his left eye. It was streaked with areas of blue, interlaced with golden brown. it wasn't completely milky or cloudy.  The eyelid and surrounding skin was unscarred.

He stayed with her. Perhaps for a minute. Perhaps two or three minutes. Longer than he'd done in the past.  She touched his nose.  They exchanged breath.  He was both active, moving his ears, lips, tail, feet...and yet exuding a sense of calmness.  

And then he departed.

Petrichor ignored Skye and her mounts. They watched quietly as he passed by.

Skye rode down to where Grace stood, with Spot in tow.

"As soon as you started heading toward the creek he came up behind you" Skye said. "That was pretty exciting."

"Yeah it was."

"Did you see a rattlesnake or something?"

"No," Grace replied, "it was a lizard. The craziest thing Skye. This lizard just came up and decided to hang out with me."

"You are popular with the wildlife today."

It was a lovely ride back to the ranch, on every level.
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