STORYTIME TAPESTRY

The Newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the world

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Special Treat ??“ ? Louise Nomani ? 

Jan 28, 2006

A?  Strategy for Problem Solving? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 

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? ?  I??™ve been moping about, feeling a bit angry with myself.?  I call my friend and am grateful that she is home and answers the phone.?  I needed to talk.?  ???It??™s such a problem.??? I said.? ? ?  I began to whine.?  ???Come on Louise, I have my own problems,??? she said.?  I heard her laugh and felt a little annoyed at her lack of concern.?  ? ???Well, she went on. We can??™t fix these problems now.?  Don??™t let them burden your head.?  I have a better solution.?  Let??™s go riding instead.??? ? We agree to meet at her house which is just a modest drive for me.?  ? ? It is time for problem solving!

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?  ? ? ? I saddled Medley and she her Promise.?  The November chill was invigorating and we were dressed in layers.?  We were certainly not the centerfolds for a foxhunting magazine.?  Bright orange scarf??™s adorned ours and our pony??™s heads.?  They were not a coordinated match for our red jackets. I marveled at my pony??™s ease in leaping logs and swallowing hills.?  I felt Medley laugh as she galloped up a little mountain.

? ? ? ?  ? I grabbed mane to keep my seat. I felt her laugh again and was reminded once more that horses are no relation to machine.

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? ? ? ?  To have a friend for a lifetime is the greatest of gifts.?  To have a friend of a lifetime who rides with you year after year sharing the marvels of Maine??™s great nature from the top of a horse----Well that is even greater than a gift.?  What does one call it??  It is a miracle I think for this friend and I have been riding together for fifty plus years.?  We shared cocoa as children and we share hot chocolate as old people.?  It is a miracle for we are both of reasonably sound minds and body though to be truthful, Nancy is sounder than I.?  We no longer get rank cards so it does not matter, and Nancy is generous in excusing my deficiencies.? 

? ? ? ?  ???Where are we going, I ask her as we head down the road????? ?  ???Let??™s go to the pond, she replied, the summer folk are gone and it will be ours.??? ? ? I love the pond for there is a maze of camp roads upholstered in dirt, and they all lead to the shore. The landscaping is perfect, and the colors of leaves inspire the spirit on this fall day.

? ? ? ?  We ride slowly and recall days of our youth when we treated our horses like sport cars.?  It is better now for we have time and take the time to measure the red of the Oaks and gold of the Birches.?  The Bittersweet decorates the road and I remind myself to pick some on our return.?  Ooops!?  A deer jumps beside us and Promise leaps four feet into the air and six feet to the side.?  She is talented!?  My Medley does a tail spin.?  Nancy and I are both clutching rein and mane.?  ? ???Are you okay?????  Nancy is protective and happy to see me still in the middle of the horse. She looks just a little unsettled.?  ???Did you see that fellow??”what a beauty!??? ? ? ???You know, she said Promise dumped me in this same spot a year ago.?  I??™ll bet it was the same darned deer.?  He waits to see me coming round the corner and then laughs at me I think with the commotion he causes.???

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? ? ? ?  Our horses settle and we pick up the pace, sitting a little tighter with reins a little shorter.?  The horses know these paths and know the shortcuts.?  We take one of these, and I duck my head for Medley is charging forward with great energy.?  Soon I am on her neck for there are too many branches and she has forgotten to listen to me.?  She knows the way after all and is indulging me by allowing me this journey from the top of her back... We stop at the top of the rise and I catch my breath.?  A stunning fox dressed in a robe of red, black and white ? ? is measuring us carefully.?  His curiosity gets the best of him and I watch as he disappears only to reappear fifty yards down the road.?  I think it may have been the orange scarves that got his attention.?  Certainly the fox was better dressed than we were, and I and we noted our deficient wardrobes in such company.

? ? ? ?  We neared the pond and I was nervous as the horses picked their way through those rocks that line the bank. They are daunting but Medley is clever and picks her way through them with care.?  Oh my, she is up to her knees now in the cold water.?  She shakes her head and is pawing furiously sending spray everywhere.?  Nancy and I laugh but I??™m losing her; my horse is sinking. Going, going, gone.? ?  ? She is on her knees and I am going to get very wet.?  I pull and pull again on the reins to get her attention.?  I kick her sharply with my heals.?  I may have said a small prayer too for that water is cold and I had no desire to go swimming.?  Nancy is still laughing.?  Medley relents just as my boots start to take on water. Yuck! The water is freezing! We go on to ride along the shoreline in shallow water that is free of rocks.

? ? ? ?  There is a marvelous peace in this place.?  The cabins are closed and there is nobody about. The quiet gives me a sense of belonging to a broader space of time and place.?  The quiet of sitting on the back of a good horse brings tranquility to one??™s spirit and some days it provides sanity when the world is out of kilter.?  It has always been so for me, and it is so today.

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There is a black satin ribbon of geese resting in the middle of the pond and I watch in delight as a few of those beauties take off or land.?  This is a resting place on their migration path, and I am always thrilled to share their company for I love those voices that signal to me the change of seasons as they fly north or south.?  The geese are orderly and social, and I do not note any argument within the flock.?  That observation makes me wish that we could have a leader of our flock that would find for us a clean pathway to social order.?  Do the geese hold elections, I wonder to determine the wisest of them.?  Do they have a constitution to protect their freedoms??  What is the punishment for those who break the rules of their community??  I am reluctant to take my eyes away from the beauty of those birds.?  I miss this sight many years and today I drink it in to hold it fresh in my memory.

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? ? ? ?  It is lunchtime, and our stomachs are complaining.?  Nancy has prepared lunch, and I am ready to eat.?  We turn the horses towards home and chat in soft voices about our long history and the memories that bind us.?  This has been another wondrous ride.?  I explain my dilemma to her--, the little problem that has been plaguing me.? ? ?  Somehow it does not seem as important today under sunshine and in the company of a good friend.?  , I say to Nancy. ???I must write a letter.?  Better yet, I should call her and explain.?  I should apologize shouldn??™t I???? ? ? Nancy is quiet but I know the answer to my question.?  Nancy speaks.?  ???Well I need to talk with my accountant. I have to find a way of balancing the numbers. He??™ll know the solution.????  Our horses are easy and relaxed but happy to be on the home path.?  I feel the same.?  They have no problems to worry them on this November day that is marked by bright sunshine and the warmth of good company.?  They have no problems, and Nancy and I have left ours at the pond.

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Louise Nomani

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windmill@tdstelme.net? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  Norridgewock Maine

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Biography:?  Louise is a Maine girl who loves the wonderful outdoors especially when seen from the top of a horse.?  She is married and has three daughters, three cats, three dogs and three horses.?  I am hoping to have at least three lives she says so I can indulge myself with a pursuit of hobbies and family.?  I am retired and it is grand to have this great freedom!

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