July 10th- Rain!!! continued

After spending the morning in church fellowship, I went home to finish the reaming English assignments. After completing the last week-assignment, I noticed the light coming through the windows had decreased. The traffic cloud-characters of the sky where changing from small frills of white, to beastly freighters of deep blue. Wind from the southeast began stirring the branches of trees surrounding my home. Cracking open my bedroom window, I began to smell petrichor - The pleasant smell that accompanies the first rain after a dry spell.

The ground of our farm was dusty and gray from the dominating lack of rain. My heart began to quickly thud at the prospect of rainwater. My mind reeled with excited thoughts. Within a few minutes of acknowledging the dark clouds above I decided I would go and wait in our yard for the rain to drench the earth and my joyous body.  But upon stepping outside, I came to realize that my own body could not dance or run with enough power to express the delight inside me. The answer to my thrill seeking heart hung with the bridle and bit, that I grabbed from the wall inside the old barn door entrance.  With lare strides, I covered the distance between the barn lot and the gate entrance of the north pasture. Once through the gate I identified the location of the three family equines. As I approached the horses, the air became filled with falling drizzle and loud claps of thunder. The three horses tossed their heads at my surprise visit. Rivey, the tall powerful mare who turned to face me, seemed to know I was coming to fetch her as my ride. She expressed distaste for the idea by stepping two steps in the opposite direction. But a low hiss from my lips gave her a well-known signal, asking her stop and yield to my request. She exhaled a hyped breath of air that caused her nostrils to quiver. As I approached her with the bridle she dropped her head and began working the tongue inside her mouth as she contemplated the coming bite. After slipping the bridle and bit onto her yielding head, I lead her back towards the pasture gate. The drops of water where becoming larger and heavier my heart beet faster and harder. Once  outside the pasture, I griped a handful of Rivey’s mane as I hoisted my body up onto her bareback. Instantly, Rivey began to move in apprehensive anticipation of my plans. Taking the wet leather reins into my palms, I shifted her tense body to face the gravel lain that led to back-country roads. With the direction appointed, Rivey’s front feet left the ground as she shifted to bring powerful hindquarters beneath her.  My lungs could not inhale enough wind for the rapid beat of my souring heart as her legs drove below me.  We quickly came to the end of the lain leaving home and took a right-hand turn to gallop down the long gravel runway before us.  Rivey’s strides were choppy and full of spirit and vigor.

As we ran, I blinked over the thoughts of the possible lightening strikes above. The horses power before me was at that moment the only energy equaling my ecstasy in celebration of the rain.  A quick sharp shrill, from deep within me, escaped my lips. My hands and arms would have been flalling above my head if it were not for fingers wrapped around leather and mane. The heavy drizzle changed to a heavy downpour as I pulled my steed to a stop.  In the middle of the gravel road, Rivey pranced at the pause in our travel. Her neck arched with constricted muscles. Heavy breaths of air traveled through her flared nostrils. My entire being seemed to reel with joy as rain drenched every layer of clothing upon my body. Rain poured over my eyes and traveled down my face. “Thank you dear Heavenly Father” I shouted, into the thundering skies. I wanted to sing, but my words would have been gurgled. So with one last dash of bliss I turned my prancing mount to face the way home. In this moment I watched as sheets of rain caused the surrounding terrain to recede from view. But with little doubt of our route, I leaned forward and loosened the reins of Rivey’s mouth.  The shift in my body weight was the only signal Rivey needed to know the pace to travel. With one strong stride, her haunches lurched forward beneath my body. The grip I had in her mane kept my backside from sliding over her hindquarters as her muscles contracted in movement. Our pace, and the rate of rain fall, caused my eyes to become blurred, but then I realized teardrops of elation from within where also decreasing my vision. Within a few minutes Rivey and I arrived back in the soggy yard of home. Once inside the pasture I slipped the bridle from her head. As the rain continued to fall, Rivey lopped away to greet her waiting pasture buddies.  Soaked from head to toe and a little grubby from horse hair and mud, I turned to walk towards the house. With a deep inhale I smelled the fresh petrichor, and then, with the exhale I felt my overflowing, joyful soul.