https://deirdre-fourds.blogspot.com/2023/01/another-bridge-12-15-jan-1965.html This link is to an extra fill-in post, not linked on Facebook. Read it if you wish to make more sense of this one. Or go down past Jan 9 in the list since I went ahead and inserted it earlier.
This day-after was not really traumatic but not easy, either. If I had known how long it would be before the next time I'd see Dusty, I would probably have been even more devastated.
Jan 16, 1965 Sat
Got up and went bravely out to greet the day. Fed and came up to a breakfast of cracked wheat and biscuits which I nearly threw up. The letdown was inevitable of course. We drove out to do the chores. Turned Pat out for the day. He seemed to be okay. He is such a pretty thing. We mended fence at June’s from 10:00 to 12:00 approximately. She pulled brush with her mare and talked. Gee, I get sort of sick of her after awhile. I can still feel Dusty’s touch. He is still out there at the pasture in spirit now. We got home and finished the noon chores just as the Bryants came. Charlie Mike and I got the second bike running and went riding. We rode Prez double out to do the chores. I promised Mom I’d tell her about Dusty, so I will the first opportunity I get. Since my convictions are so strong maybe I can halfway convince her that nothing is going to change my mind. I wrote him tonight, the last letter for awhile unless he replies so I have to answer promptly. But he said it was ok. I’ve waited two years, really much longer, for “someone” and I have found him. He fits everything so perfectly. If only. Oh Dusty, my dearest, why?
(Fisher's?) Cracked Wheat was a hot cereal I really liked. I have not seen it in years but it came in a cardboard box like some flours and other grain products. It was literally cracked grains of wheat, best soaked overnight and then cooked like old fashioned oatmeal. I was still feeling a bit 'out of normal' to be nauseaus with good food to eat. (That got worse later on, mid 1965-66.) There had been no lecture or upset--I am sure they did not know of the visit and Charlie Mike was not about to spill it.
I was a big fan of little Patrick--not so little now as he approached two years old. Late that spring I began to train him and he did exceptionally well. I've mentioned June a few times. She and her partner, a Mexican man I only knew as Julio, were caretakers for Dead Horse Ranch after the Ireys moved and put it on the market. She was a husky woman and I think part or all Indian though I do not know what tribe. She rode in a western saddle and always wore voluminous skirts tucked around her legs. She was a character, beyond a doubt!
For awhile Dad was back out working more with us and mostly directed the fence work. I was okay with that and for awhile things were fairly calm and no daily or even weekly kerfuffles. Too good to be true, of course, but enjoy while it lasts. So for the moment there was not a lot to talk about. Routine 'chores' went on of course.
Not many pictures either. I'll dig up one or two. First Tina in summer coat. She really did look Thoroughbred but I never knew her pedigree. They did not have an Embark for horses then! Next is Patrick, about the time I was ready to start gentle riding for him. He basically had Quarter Horse confirmation (see difference in hip and rump muscles between him and Tina) as did his sire, Chief, with the delicacy of Patsy, his pale gray mom, who looked rather Arabian. Last another shot of June Parsons. She was a capable rider and horsewoman despite the unconventional attire. Even Charley Bryant, my old horse whiperer mentor approved of her.
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