Wednesday, December 1, 2010

The Cats ... Continued
Meeting The Ponies

The Keanutes, a strikingly handsome people with alert features were meticulously groomed. The Keanutes once could be found in other regions of the Rockies, far to the North and to the South, however this particular location was their greatest stronghold and community.” Shadow's telling of this story made it evident he knew his family’s history and the past days of the Keanutes quite well.

“Let’s walk to explore other of the many mountain valleys,” Shadow encouraged. We were at the South Bay end of the lake after leaving the mountainside to the East. This was a gently sloped region of water marsh and grass. As we rounded the Bay we headed northwest to the first cove. The mountainside rose to protect this cove from view. As we continued upward, I commented on Shadow’s agility, “It is a delight to behold. I’m doing my very best to keep up with you.” We had a fun time of follow the leader.

We climbed to meet with the old cart path that rounded the mountain to the inner slope of the cove. At this distance the water appeared azure blue and crystal clear. The spring runoff had just started and the lake was still two feet below its peak level.

I saw the cart path that crisscrossed the opposite mountainside, and wondered how long since it had been used. Shadow told me he was two years old and had not met the Keanutes himself. The mountainsides were green with grass and we could hear a meadowlark singing his trill atop an old fence post. Sunset was just peaking in the West and I told Shadow, “I must head back toward home at the South Bay. What direction do you live?” He followed in the same direction as I, “Not far from you my friend,” his sparkling dark silver-gray eyes acknowledged.
When we reached the foot of the mountain and rounded the curve we stopped at the roadway that led back to the cabin where I lived. “I’ll watch for you tomorrow, sleep snug,” was his goodbye.

It was so delightful having a new friend, and made the worries of being at home less frightful and the nightmares not so large.

The next day Shadow was watching for me, “I packed us a lunch so that we might travel farther and have a longer day of it.” Shadow never seemed to tire. We started out on the path as yesterday, and continued down the mountainside to the water's edge. We saw small fishes swimming up to the bubbles formed in the water from a small underground stream. “I wish we could swim with them, it would be fun.” But this time of year the water was too cold. They were having a time of it chasing the bubbles.

We followed the shoreline a ways and then turned to follow a path around the mountain into a large meadow. We saw cows grazing and two beautiful mares with their colts. The young ones were happy to be in the meadow on such a lovely spring day with the full sun upon them. They asked their moms, “Can we go and play with the two visitors?” Their coats were gleaming and they were smiling. As they neared they whinnied their greeting.
Shadow graciously introduced us and we could tell this would add to our wonderful day of adventure. Scout and Sosh had newly arrived, and said, “this is our first day in the meadow with our mothers.” Scout motioned to Shadow to hop-up for a comforting ride. We traveled through the meadow with Scout in the lead and with Shadow’s help as guide."
more to come soon

No comments:

Post a Comment