Early Friday Russ had a crew with him to do cow jobs. Our table was full at lunch and it was memorable as we enjoyed having 2 guests from Switzerland with us. Also, I tried a potato soup recipe that will definitely be served again.I dressed for work Friday afternoon. Not for cattle jobs, but a wedding rehearsal. The wedding was held in a pasture. Russ said, “Kathy if this wedding is in a pasture you must wear your cowboy boots to this rehearsal.” I agreed. That was a first for me as a minister. I still had a “souvenir” on my boots from working cows with our neighbor last week. The rehearsal was over in time to warm up some soup, hug Morg goodbye and get to the Barbie movie. We really enjoyed it. While at the movie I got a text from Morgan. “Turns out not leaving tonight please make sure I am up at 3:30am” After the movie…. coffee got prepped, croissant dough taken from freezer to thaw and rise, the oven set for a delay preheat for 3:15am and my alarm set for 3:25. It went off and I swung into gear. I put the croissants in to bake, flipped the switch on the coffee and went to wake my roper up so he was ready for his ride to the rodeo. Waking a teenage boy in the middle of the night is not for the faint of heart. Early morning coffee in a kitchen still littered with soup bowls from the day before.Later that day, the wedding. This was a really special one for many reasons. Another first for me, our cows were part of the decoration….in a distant way. The wedding backdrop was the Souris River Valley. That means that 125 pairs of the Bar MW cattle were grazing in the background.Sunday morning we headed to the Bengough rodeo. Morg had already been there for a day, he was entered in team roping. Carter Ewart was his partner and Carter’s family gave him a ride and a place to sleep.I happened to sit beside the woman who raised Morgan’s horse and still is very attached to it. We took a selfie, the mother of the horse and the mother of the rider. Carter on the roan on the left, Morgan on the buckskin on the right, throwing the rope. Great effort and Russ and I feel so proud.Morgan’s girlfriend Jordanna is a trick rider, she and her team provided amazing intermission entertainment. Russ and I stood close to film it and we both fought back tears. My picture is fuzzy. It’s not great but you can still see that glowing smile.Somehow this pic makes the horse invisible. Another girl we love, Gina’s good friend Tenley, is part of the picture. She is support crew for the Truco Trick Riders.
All weekend as things unfolded I was aware life is very good. I also was rather fascinated by the various things happening, and the way my identity was affirmed.
Over the course of a few days I was a cook, that felt pretty normal and I was a ranch wife, pulling on my shitty boots. I was an experienced minister making a rehearsal happen fairly seamlessly. I found the 8 year old girl in me alive and well as I remembered how much fun it was to play with my Barbies. In 1976 I felt so smart when I made a Barbie bed from a Kleenex box. My style of Mom-ing was clearly in play when I just knew that boy of mine must have something fresh and hot to put in his tummy. How would he know I love him if I didn’t give him a boost to start his tricky day and weekend. I was a human wrapped up in beauty, as a thoughtfully planned wedding unfolded, in a raw and achingly beautiful location, in a place where our very own cows were in the distance. I was a wife as I danced with my husband, easy in his arms. I was the Mom of a rodeo contestant, anxious to see him succeed, for his sake more than my own. I was so dang proud of his maturity through all that the day held. I am crazy about that kid. Today I had a new role. I have had a new girl in my world for many months. But today I got to watch her do some of the things that make her pretty amazing. I stood with my heart in my mouth, proud of another woman’s daughter, delighting in her, happy to cheer on a new but important part of our family.
Life is especially good when the days are so vivid. When you get the feeling that maybe, just maybe, you are doing what you are supposed to be doing.
As 2022 was winding down I found myself aware that despite the numerous things that were hard about the year that has passed, there were several things that got added into our year that were a bonus. I made a list and hope to do some writing over the next several days just to explore the good a little bit.
I have been aware of this “added bonus” reality for the last few years, at the end of recent years there has always been one or more things to say, “wow, I didn’t expect to have that or appreciate it like I do!”
One of my added bonus items for this year is vinegar.
Please hear me out.
In 2020 when I spent days living with my Mom I was exposed to how she would add a healthy splash of vinegar to her dishwasher just before she ran it. I have to admit that when I first witnessed this, and received her instruction that when I was running her dishwasher, I too should do the vinegar treatment, I wanted to roll my eyes. My Mom had things she was a bit fanatical about, like she recycled every imaginable thing she could, those in her circle had to figure out how to stay on board with her strategy. She regularly urged us to sleep better by blocking out blue light and she sat down and had a big talk with us some years ago about the challenge to control weight during menopause, a talk which I was quite offended by. I have no good reason to have been offended, but I was. Sometimes its hard to have your Mom acting like your Mom. Yet, I was blessed by her wisdom, over and over again throughout my whole life, and this vinegar trick is likely the last concrete tip she passed on to me.
The sentiment in this image is the first wisdom Mom passed on that involved vinegar. It was something she would say often enough.
When I returned home I started following her example, and it seemed that there was positive effect. My dishes did look a little better. However, I have never really been able to feel proud of the dishes I put on the table, a light film has always been present, more or less. As problems go, this is not a problem, but then again, it was bugging me.
About a month ago I got serious about the vinegar situation. I decided that I was leaving too much to chance and not getting the benefit of that vinegar. That generous splash that my Mom used was more like a half cup in our house and it still didn’t have the effect I wanted. I got tricky and I got strategic. I took the spray bottle I used for wetting down hair and I filled it with vinegar. Then I gave each glass a spritz or two on the inside as I put it in the dishwasher. (It has helped that my girls have both moved away in the last month and I am usually the only one loading the machine. This added step is one only I have to contend with.) Then I give several spritz over each level of the dishwasher, put in the soap and hit the start button.
My dishes have been verging on beautiful.
I am thrilled.
Who cares right? Its not life or death. But here is the thing………..
Sometimes I feel sorry for myself being a ranch wife. Housekeeping is an uphill climb. The dogs, the dirt, the grease, the grass, the melting snow, the mud, the calves in the house in spring, the dust generated by the gravel road nearby…..its a bit complex to keep this place looking even half decent. Having crappy looking dishes due to hard well water is a part of that scenario. But……something has been figured out to make it slightly better. I literally feel thrilled to pull the smooth, clear and shiny glasses from the dishwasher. When I pass them to my guys or to company, I feel a bit of quiet pride. I feel less sorry for myself.
Most of the time I don’t feel sorry for myself, I have a good life. A moment today…..Russ got my attention to stop and watch the dogs. Knightwing and Coffee were wrestling on the floor right in front of the kitchen sink. They were completely self absorbed, oblivious to the fact that they were in busy space not designated for dog action. It was a bit wild. I thought to myself, “this is not normal.” And I also loved it. It is quite intrigueing how they play together and fight and protect each other at the same time. Life is spicy.
And…..life is sharp, like the smell of vinegar hanging in the air as I get those glasses loaded.
I am thrilled that I figured this something out. That wisdom that Mom started in me got strategic and one of my life problems is figured out. I’ll count that as a win and count spritzed vinegar as one of the gifts of 2022.
As Far As The Eye Can See 