July 30, 1965 Friday
This was a surprising day when the start of a new pathway began to take shape in my world and for me. All that will follow for several weeks would hardly make sense without knowledge of this day's events so I make an extra entry...
July 30, 1965
Got up just a little late and spent a very busy and confused day. Fed and wired rails ‘til about 7:45. We rode out and did the chores as usual and brought Pat home. I went to Cottonwood with Mom and then rode my little roan. He was a little willful but got a good workout. Then I led Leo and rode out to return Pat and do my noon chores. Took my camera but only got a photo of Ruby. I spent the afternoon watching the weather and writing Shirl. I walked to town to mail the Boss’s letters. We had to drive to the pasture because of the lightning but it cleared. Ginger had an awful hole in her hock full of screw worms so I rode her home bareback. She did fine. Thank God I came by the river!! I saw some heart-stopping familiar tracks and then by the log a guy who seemed a stranger at first as always. He wore dirty Levi's, a light blue tee shirt with his cowboy hat and had a pair of binoculars . We talked for only the briefest minutes, both tired and hardly making sense. He had a fight and may lose his job. He has a scar under his right eyebrow to prove it. He has a man in the hospital now so should be here tomorrow. We exchanged our medals and when I was ready to go I held my hand out to him and he took it. I pressed my face against it, dirt and all. Then he took his cigar out of his mouth and stepped closer to me. I leaned down and we kissed quickly. Once again it’s a blur. I felt the rough stubble of a beard in contrast to smooth cool lips and tasted cigar ashes-ugh! Maybe the third time will be the charm. Hurried on home and worked on Ginger for a long while. Saw him finally come up the river road. We were very late getting the chores done so missed our friend when we checked. Probably he will spend the night at Garvin’s or camp out but I think we will see him tomorrow. This whole day is a fuzz of unreality for me. When I saw those tracks I was so surprised. I really didn’t think he’d come, yet something made me go down the river instead of home by the road. And that’s one thing I don’t regret. Moonspinner looks different, darker gray than I though and is it light blue or green? Maybe I am colorblind. So now I am 22 and twice kissed but really I am responsible for both. I don’t quite like that. I am glad to have the other medal. He has had it since January. It’s been many miles. Now I have him to worry about too. I hope we can spend quite a lot of time together tomorrow and that there will be a game and he’ll be here tomorrow evening. I have so much to catch up on. Really I’m about to flip. I really didn’t think he’d come --I wanted it too much.
Up until late in the afternoon it had been a typical and mostly uneventful day. I had been riding Patrick for about three or four days and he was doing just as well as Ginger had. We had driven out that evening as I say here and found Ginger's injury. She had probably run into something, maybe chased by one of the older mares or a mule, and made a puncture wound in her hind leg. In the summer, screw worms will grow quickly once a wound starts to fester. There was no big blow up over this (amazing?) but we had to get her home to doctor her. I made a rough bridle with a lead rope and hopped on her bareback. The rest, I guess one might say, is history. B&B 6 was finally going to come back. The actual move of the outfit was in the coming week, I believe Tuesday, Aug 3 or so.
A picture or two just 'cause. First "Moonspinner", the now familiar Plymouth wagon, parked just where it was that evening. Then Dusty, a picture actually taken several weeks later, as this evening he had on a light blue t-shirt instead of the Wrangler work shirt but he did have his binoculars as he had been looking for me.
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