Mentors

Good Afternoon

Well, better make that evenin'; I thought I was caught up on the day, and then I remembered, I'd completely forgot the neighbor's critters. So, here it is dark and I'm just gettin' around to the log. But, not bad timin', as it just commenced ta rain, again.

Quite an amazin' day, all in all, though I didn't get too much done. Had ta check up on a few friends and that, all by itself, turned into quite an episode; maybe kinda related to the "how things change" tangent I got on to yesterday. There's an old, younger'n me, but older still, cowboy/horseman/friend a mine up in Utah and come ta find out, Carolyn Hunt, my mentor, Ray's wife, had asked him to be a mentor for a young horsewoman, in association with the "legacy of legends" program, carryin' on the work of Tom and Ray. And, boy, that sure touched me; one, how time flies, and two, how wonderful, that this young woman would get ta spend time with Jim, a world class horseman and a peach of a human bein'. Just don't know if I could ever express, how happy that makes me, knowin' what horses have meant to me, what it meant ta meet Ray and learn about Tom, what it meant to me, time I got to spend with Jim, years back and how it all worked to change my life; all becomin' the most wonderful bridge, 'tween the world of the heart and what I've been able to live out, day to day, just learnin' what it means to be human.

So, just hearin' that some a that is gettin' passed on to the next generation, well, it's just plain, huge. Special maybe, 'cause Jim was never one ta huff and puff, when it come to his abilities and understandin', but, believe you me, I can't think a too many, really got Tom and Ray like Jim. And, for Carolyn, spent most a her life 'side Ray, pick Jim out, well, that's just double sweet and large, large, large!

So, I suppose, I'm just walkin' on rainbows, but knowin' this stuff'll get passed on, it just lights me up deep, deep inside my soul. Tom and Ray, they were real people and they found their lives in the horse; it meant everything to them and, seems to me, they never got confused about their debt and gratitude and spent their lives, given it back, that horses might get a better deal, and others like them might find their way, with the help of a horse.

It's just a happy deal!

Have a nice night.

Best,

Waddie Mitchell and Jim Hicks at the Heber City Cowboy Poetry Gatherin:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&hl=en&client=mv-google&rl=yes&v=VUnTiR5pSxc

jeune