A New Morning

This marks the first of my morning blogging so bare with me. It's early and I am trying to get into a new habit of getting the thoughts from my head onto this screen a little earlier. 
All mornings are a fresh start, a whole new day to take on another dream or goal. In a lot of ways I feel like mornings are God's way of giving us a do-over. A brand new day that we can better serve him, be a better example to others, or just treat ourselves and those around us with the utmost respect. I like mornings, I always have. Lots of the mornings of my childhood were spent up with the animals, feeding the horses in their stalls, getting ready for a show on a weekend. Those moments before a crack of light came into the sky were special to me. A typical morning before a horse show included so many things, from ironing our show shirts, to giving those horses one last grooming before we put them in the trailer, the mornings were when it happened. There are many of those times that stick out more than the rest, but one of my favorites is still embeded in my memory.

a late night hike recently

It was a cool morning, early fall probably, and the day before had been spent in Perry, Georgia. After one show we immediately headed to another in South Carolina. I was tired, he was tired but he made it a point to let me have a good time as soon as we got to the hotel. We jumped on the beds. Literally jumped, this became a little tradition that has always happened, even to this day. We stayed up late into the night working on some tie-downs for the horses. Showing was a way of life, and a way we made our money, so it was important to win the next day. We tied rope until our fingers were tired and I am pretty sure I passed out long before daddy. The next morning we woke up early and headed out to the show grounds to feed the horses first. It was still dark outside and I can still smell the hay and grain. While the horses were eating, and they always ate before we did, we headed over to the local IHOP. I remember the menu and ordering the "pigs in a blanket". This was the first time I had heard a food called this, and I made a big deal about it. We laughed and laughed about that for days. After eating we headed back to barn to get ready for the day. I got put on a horse to warm up and one for daddy too. After riding around the arena some, and getting the horse warmed up for the day, I decided to work on some of my circles, not noticing the lady lunging her horse in the center of the arena. When our horses met they both went opposite ways and I stayed right in the middle. Falling off hard down into the dirt. Nothing hurt but my pride. I, of course, got back on after a little coaxing from daddy, and I think we went on to have an okay day. Those tie-downs worked wonders and we got those horses to bury their butts in the dirt during their slides.
Looking back now, I lived for mornings like those, and in a way still do. Now it is all about encompassing it all, making it more than a memory, making it a part of me again. This morning is going to be a good one. I am blessed, blessed, blessed. ooo, Montana