Our little cabin has sat alone and empty this holiday season due to the lack of snow. Usually this time of year it has many visitors. Families and groups of friends are often dropped off by Jim and the horses to stay for a couple hours. There they can “ make themselves at home”, and enjoy all the little pond and cabin has to offer. There is a big long table where people can gather to shoot the breeze or share a picnic. An old woodstove heats the place up in short order and is a comfort to stand next to if one is chilled. A seating area gives room for people to play games or just sit and enjoy the quiet. A little skating pond and outdoor fire can be viewed through the window. Many happy memories have been shared on that pond.
This time, we got to enjoy the cabin. Buck and Ken took us there with the wagon (no snow=no sleigh). It was a bumpy ride but we merrily chatted as Jim and the boys took us there. It was New Year’s Eve and our daughters Trudy and Abby had decided they would ring in the new year there and have an overnight adventure. Their friend Maddie joined them, and they asked us to come along for some pizza (and so the horses could drop them and their supplies off). We enjoyed food around the long table. There is something wonderful about the glow of candlelight, and the shadows it casts. It almost seems to bring
people together so they can hug into the light and enjoy it’s presence and each other more. The horses were hitched right outside the door and Jim had brought blankets for them to stave off a chill. Sometimes we would hear them moving the sled a bit, and that would remind us they were there. As the night wore on, we moved to more comfortable chairs and thought of playing a game, which never materialized. Just sitting together in the quietness was enough for us. We talked about why we don’t come down more often, and how a simple place like this is all a person really needs. Then Jim was ready to go since he didn’t want to leave the horses standing too long. They have routines too! So Jim and I said goodbye, left the girls behind for the night to rough it, and we headed for home with the wagon (no snow-no sleigh). It isn’t too far, just through the field. Jim had a light hooked up to a battery that shone on the horses. It’s hard to tell how much they could see, they seemed to be a little on edge. There was no trail, as there usually is with the sleigh. They will go where he drives them and they obeyed well. The wind met us face on, as it usually does coming home from the cabin. It was exhilarating to be out under the night sky and feel the breeze, I found. Jim drove the horses to the barn and they were anxious to get into their stalls. The stalls are their place of comfort and their place to call their own. Bill and Lady seemed a little unhappy that we had upset their quietness and routine, but I’m sure they got back to resting after we left. It’s the simple things in life that are the best - family, friends, quietness, light, fresh air, warmth, working with animals and a beautiful world.
The girls coming back from their overnight stay.
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