[RC] Endurance, Carolina Style: Part Eight - Howard Bramhall
OK, I may have lost ya'll with that last line. I can hear some of you
saying, "Gee, Howard, are you really that crazy?" or, "I know a good therapist
who's reasonable," or, "It's not rational to say you would give your life for a
horse, no matter how you may feel about him." Here's my answer to the
above: 1) Yes, 2) I have one, 3) I truly believe life is
not rational.
Think about that last idea for just a moment (oh, man, here he goes).
Has everything in your life made sense? Do you have it all under control
all the time? I know, some of you may think you do, but, do you really, or
is that just some sort of illusion you've been able to portray to yourself
or the outside world. My personal life has rarely been rational; it's
normally quite chaotic and confusing. I guess I like it that way and I
don't see any other way it could ever be.
Do things like 9/11 or this war with Iraq or that sniper thing in
DC make any kind of sense at all to anyone? And, even before 9/11,
things like Vietnam, JFK, Martin Luther King and Bobby's assassinations, the
year 1968, Nixon, Spiro Agnew (remember that guy?), George (dubya) Bush's
election, the Clintons, Tampa Bay winning the super bowl, the list is
endless. Is any of that rational? Please, if you think so, someone
explain it to me, because I cannot even attempt to try.
There are two horses who are so much a part of my life, America and
Dance Line, my Saddlebred, who mean so much to me, who do make sense and do
bring me such incredible happiness, I cannot describe the feeling with mere
words, no matter how hard I try. If someone were to try and steal them
from me I would risk my life to prevent it. If I got into a situation out
there on the trail and it became a decision between my life or theirs I wouldn't
be able to live with myself if I chose theirs, so, I would chose mine. Of
course, I'm not suicidal and would try to save my life too, but, I would save
theirs first or die trying. Crazy? You bet. Delirious or
delusional (pick one)? Most likely. Serious about all of this?
Most definitely.
Well, if you're still with me after all that, and God Bless you if you are,
I'll try and press on. Leatherwood, here we come!
I loaded up the sub, backed up the monolith with the horse trailer
without hitting anything, drove to the dump station (I find it hilarious
they actually call it that) adjacent the arena to unload five days worth of
crap, loaded the horses, honked the horn on my way out of camp to say good-bye
to Patsy and Officer Murphy (he ran the place and we had talked, quite often
during my stay at Sand Hills, about the war; Patsy, when I ran into her at
Leatherwood, later, told me he was quite concerned about my mental well
being. lol), and headed west. Man, did I go the wrong way because it
took me almost two hours driving through Charlotte to finally reach the
Interstate.
Five hours later, in a drive that I should have made in half the time, I
was in Ferguson, made a right turn on a magical, winding road that parallels Elk
Creek, taking me and my three buddies to Leatherwood. After a near
miss with a school bus, two large trucks and several mail boxes, I pulled into
what has become my definition of Paradise. One of the things that I had
forgotten about this area is all the folks driving their cars, traveling in the
other direction, on this very narrow road, the locals, waive to you, from inside
their vehicle, as you drive by them. Quite unique and it takes awhile to
get used to, but once you do, you realize this is the only way to be. I
had returned to the place I hope to someday call home. If you've ever
considered the abstract notion that God could very well be a horse you would,
also, believe that he lives here too.
