Already the interlude of being gone was fading to a dim memory. I was back fully into the cowboy girl life and a daily routine similar to what I had lived from June 2, 1962 on. So far the big half-day talks had not resumed and I was properly grateful for that. I did all I could not to invite any of them. The relief was short though.
Jan 29, 1966
Got up about 7:45 and had breakfast.
Mom, Charlie Mike and I drove out to do the morning chores. It all went off
fairly quickly and well. When we go back we talked a little and then I went out
to saddle up Frosty. He was a little nervous but reasonably cooperative. He was
high for about ten minutes and would have pitched a little if I had let him but
a few little climbs took it right out of him. He went right into his running
walk in a few minutes and never refused a thing. Nuanez came about noon with
his sons. He really liked Frosty but did not have any money right now. He just
loves Buckshot-Tony and Patrick and may be able to buy Frosty in a few weeks. I
had to go talk to Peckham in the afternoon. Well, at least I got a bath out of
it. He kind of bugs me. I said my main goal or ambition was to get married and
raise a family and he was surprised. I said I was currently going with a
construction worker a few years older. What he thought of that I can’t say!
Ugh, I rather wish we’d stayed clear of that but it’s too late now. The ditcher
gang is Fleetrunner, all right. We went out to feed again and did up the home
chores. I spent the evening reading Western Horseman. I am going to
really work with Frosty, Buzzie and Leo on reining in the next few weeks. I sure
hope it does not storm but I guess we are due for one soon. It’s not too late
but I feel awfully wheezy so I suppose I’d better get on to bed promptly. And
dream of Dusty again. I did last night. We drove down by old F.C. Hill’s and
parked on a semi-rainy moonlit night. It was one of those ‘real’ dreams where
you can feel the warmth of each touch and everything. I am much less reserved
about expressing affection since Dusty taught me the magic of touching.
Frosty was Elaine Stoos's young appaloosa gelding. I had brought him home to try and attempt to sell a few days earlier. I do not think he was one of Chief's colts although now I am not totally sure. No, he was too old for that come to think of it. Al Nuanez was the stable manager at the Verde Valley School and he had bought Patrick and Tonalea/Buckshot the previous fall.
Why we continued going to the family counselling clinic I am not sure but we did. Well, mostly Mom and me. I do not think Charlie Mike ever did and Dad went seldom! He was not enthused about it. LOL. I tended to throw different info into our conversations each session as I had come to be disillusioned with the whole thing. Keep 'em guessing!? In the end there was one positive result anyway for which in time I was grateful.
A ditcher is another specialized piece of RR maintenance equipment and is a type of crane/shovel machine mounted on a flat car that cleans along trackside and at washout or landslide problems.There is normally a small work train with the operator and maybe a helper or two at most, one living car and the equipment, maybe a fuel tank. As I corrected in a few days, this operator was a Native American man correctly named Footracer rather than Fleetrunner. Tribe unknown as I never met or saw him up close but think Charlie Mike spoke to him a time or two. They were not in Clarkdale long.
Dredging up photos... I do not think this is Frosty as it looks like a mare but he was marked similarly. And was a rather short and stocky colt. Next a photo of either that ditcher work train or another in the Clarkdale yard about that time. You cannot see much from it. The last is the loading tower where limestone dust from the plant was loaded into trucks for transport but a work train--maybe ditcher-- shows in the background.
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