Learning to ride

Although I always wanted a horse, it took along time until I got one.  At 6years of age, I was one of those hopeful kids that held her ticket tightly at the Calgary Stampede, hoping this year they would call my number and I would win the Pony!  I figured it could live in our garage and that was as far as I got towards plans.  But in later years I would meet a woman fifteen years my senior that actually cleaned out her garage ahead of time for the pony she never got.  But I have to be grateful for all those years my Grandfather took me to the Stamped grounds to check my ticket.  He allowed me to hope and dream.
   In the meantime I wasn't totally horseless.  Whenever we went to visit family friends in Ogden, my brother and I would go to the pony place that for 25 cents would rent us a pony to ride all day!  My brother being five years older and an avid viewer of cowboy movies, would attempt to mount up Roy Rogers style by running at the horse and placing his hands on its bum and leapfrogging on.  I was most impressed. But we did it so much that by the time we went to the house to show everyone, the pony had gotten wise and would no longer stand nicely but kick out when he saw Frank running towards  him.
   We didn't go to visit half enough as I would have liked so in between we would go to the place where the dog food companies held their live horses.  I never thought much about what was going to happen to these animals.  One company was called The Red Top, and the other was Dr.Ballards.  The pens were both just over a couple of hills from our house near Nose Creek in Calgary. Sitting on a high fence, at my brother's dare, I would jump on whatever horse I had selected and hope for a nice ride lasting more than eight seconds. I soon learned the colts were the hardest to stay on.  The bigger, older horses seemed more gentle, but not always?  I mean who knew at that age about horses being “broke to ride”?
  I would continue most of my young years seeking and riding whatever horse I could find the opportunity to do so, right up into my late teens.
  One of the best deals was when someone put two horses in a pasture not far from the Calgary Zoo. My brother by that time had left home but before he did he showed me how to use a piece of rope as an Indian jaw-bridle.  It was pretty easy to leave home with a piece of rope in my back pocket and “go for a walk”  No one seemed to wonder why I didn't take my dog on these walks, but he would have been a bother.  What I did do, that let the cat out of the bag, was wear my Siwash Sweater my Mom had knit me.  It had distinguishing rabbits designed into it.  My mom worked in the General Hospital and from the solarium could see someone with just such a sweater down there riding horses!(Surely they must have used binoculars) In any case when I was home that night I was questioned, and lied, and then got two lickings. One for riding and one for lying.  But it didn't stop me.
  The next horses I found, I was really fortunate, I think some angel must have been looking after me.  I made friends with what I thought was a beautiful black. I aptly named him Fury and with my little piece of rope on him, talked him into standing close to the fence and I baled on him!  He was pretty good about it and I think he was as young and bored as I was.  The only trouble was, so were the other horses bored and when they took to running, Fury and I had no choice but to be a part of the herd. It made for some exciting rides at times, but we spent many an hour on out own travelling the pasture day after day.
   I was always one to play games of pretend with myself and deep into an imaginary story one day I neglected to watch for anyone approaching that might own these horses and because I was trespassing, would kick my scrawny butt out of there.  Instead I was so happy and relaxed when a fellow said to me “Don't you know that horse ain't broke?” I came back with a smart remark of “He is now”  I guess the man could see a good thing when he saw one and he went home and got me a bridle! Now I was really proud of myself. I must have been hiding the bridle somewhere near because i know I couldn't have taken it home with me or I would get in trouble for riding horses again!  But I rode all summer and into the fall, at which time the fellow approached me and said Fury was for sale and did I think I could buy him?

Poleyard Yukon # 4

   While living in the “Poleyard” we had observed mice running around, especially at night. One rather fat one seemed to always take the same track from under the trailer and across a clearing to a small woodpile we had started for the fire.  Sometimes it nearly ran over my foot!  My camping partner decided it was time to start trapping.  Talk about boredom setting in!  So thereafter she set two traps with peanut butter for bait every night before we went to bed.  As I was always first one out of the trailer for a  smoke in the morning, she would ask me how many mice we had caught. Usually we had caught two, but one morning the whole trap was gone!  I wondered if a squirrel or something bigger had gotten in the trap and took a cursory look around for the trap but knew my partner would put in a better search so didn't pursue the matter.  Eventually the trap was found in the bush and we figured our local fox had nabbed it and taken it off while she decided how to get the mouse out.

  The other wildlife we had were some Whiskey Jacks. There were the parents and then four young ones that came into camp and were fed leftovers.  When the corncobs were thrown to them they entertained us with a bit of “log/corncob burling” and were quite good at it. In the beginning one youngster complained bitterly that his parents would no longer feed him and I called him “Squawker”

Because we were feeding the birds I was thrilled to see the fox come in to help herself to the goodies. I got no less then seven shots of her on camera.  Unfortunately she was still not shed out and so was not as lovely as she could have been, but I was glad to have seen her anyway. She grabbed some food and left and then returned until someone started talking, then she left for good.

  Meanwhile back at the trapline, we usually cremated the mice bodies in the fire at night but on one occasion, because it had been windy, we hadn't had a fire.  There were four mice bodies in the firepit and another two from the morning and I got my partner to take a photo of our harvestings.

 Would that mosquitoes would be trapped as easily! They were very plentiful.  I gave “first blood” every morning at the outhouse and then throughout the day and evening as well.  They were more than pesky they were downright viscous!  Using mosquito coils and sprays helped a bit but one night I had a dozen bites on each ankle and the itching was driving me crazy! Luckily the medicine cabinet held some Calamine lotion and I haven't felt anything so soothing in a long while.

Soon boredom would be set aside as we ventured forth to Haines Landing to see my cousin Carl and his wife Joanne.  It would only be  for overnight but it was most healing for me.~~~~

Snores and snoring, Yukon#3

The topic of snoring. Reared it's ugly head the night before we set out for the Yukon. Trailer owner and I slept in one of the daughters back yard and I was informed that I snored. Ah well what could I do about that. Funnily, so did she! I discovered that when I am very cold I tend to be up and down to the biffy all night long! It did not make for a very restful night for sure. As time went on I suppose the snoring continued and at one point I offered earplugs but that suggestion was refused. I couldn't think of anything else to do and living in such close quarters we both had to just put up with some things. After all we were Camping!

In the first week at the Pole yard, I awoke one morning to hear my travel companion complaining to the others that “..it goes on all night and its driving me nuts!” I could only assume it was my snoring?? I don't know what else she could be talking bout but who knows?? I remember a sister-in-law once telling me that to live in confined quarters (like this?) one really had to like the partner. Well perhaps that had been a mistake on both our parts and in fact I did not know this person very well at all.

As time went on things escalated a bit and she even admitted to slamming the bathroom door (situated next to my head) in an attempt to wake me and stop my snoring. Well, that could only go down as another “cheap shot” in my book. One night she must have been particularly peed off and slammed it so hard I came right off the bed and for a second thought I had been shot! When I was next in the bathroom I thought maybe I should slam that sucker so hard it came off the hinges, however the good little angel on my right shoulder said “Well Joyce that would put you the same as her and it really isn't your style now is it?” So I did nothing - Again! Time and again I thought of the Serenity prayer ”God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference” Short of one hell of a confrontation I really could not change much and so tried for the serenity. In any case the lady was most determined to have her way and for the most part did. I did not go to the Yukon to fight about things and I didn't.

I suppose our goals for this trip differed a lot. She was going to have a visit with her son and so she did. She also thought it clever to have me along to pay half the food and fuel. To that end it worked well and she simply had to put up with things I did that annoyed her. However I had come along in hopes of seeing lots of things and was most disappointed to be camped in the said poleyard all day mostly on our own until the son and his partner came around. We did all four of us have suppers together and I enjoyed that and never had a bad meal - they were all delicious!

But I pined for Kaslo and often wished I was home again. The two months seemed very long indeed.

My partner must have been bored also and having had mice in her ceiling once before decided we should trap mice...but that is for the next story.~~~

Yukon #2

Hmm. That first post about the Yukon was received with mixed feelings. My traveling companions' daughters wrote on it “You have a nerve!” Obviously they did not appreciate what I wrote so I pulled it off of fb and went back to just writing about dogs again. However! MY friends and readers, clamored for more. Most people think my adventures were funny and I guess looking back they were. Each day I feel less and less upset about them and as one buddy pointed out they are MY stories! And it is how I lived them and perceive them so what the hell? Everything is true believe me! Only slight exaggerations here and there for the humor of things.My previous post was a lead up for more.

After several warnings about my NOT remembering to turn off the lights, said owner of trailer pulled the bulb out!

I could not believe it! Now I had to more or less “feel” my way around my cupboard looking for things. I was some angry and upset too!  BUT in true Libra fashion I said nothing to trailer owner. Daughter B was right behind me when I exclaimed “She pulled the effin bulb!” Later that night around the fire, sans owner, we talked about it a bit and I thought it would be time for me to try and get home again. I could see the writing on the wall and we would not be moving again (and we didn't). I expressed the thought that I could be home and happy! Sitting there in the dust and dirt of the pole yard was not my idea of a fun holiday. Ah, but how to get home? How much money did I have in the bank? Could I fly?  Bus?   I had only one plastic Walmart bag to carry my belongings in and the thought seemed challenging. I had a lot of clothes and things plus a brand new laptop I had thought to use while away. I had only been away for a couple of weeks by this time.  But to say the least I was not a happy camper!

One saving grace was daughter B's liberal sharing of her phone. I had a cell phone a friend gave me but it wouldn't work in the poleyard, only in Whitehorse. I was able to phone home and also a couple of friends that were worried about me and even talked to my brother in Alberta! He was not sympathetic and actually got several laughs out of my dilemma. At this point I must mention that there is a LOT of daylight in the Yukon in June and July AND there was a more than ample solar thingy on the roof of the trailer. It was explained to me that there is no way we would run out of battery! So why pull the bulb? Was this a female “pissing on posts” thing?? If so, I have no time or interest in such shenanigans and thought it was a cheap shot at best. Bro was all into how you have to conserve everything when living in a trailer but I doubt he lives as roughly as we did. But talking to my friends helped immensely!

Meanwhile back at the poleyard, we got busy erecting a little  shower house(tent thing).  Once up, THE PAIL was ensconced in it. Now I must tell you, THE PAIL, was purchased in Walmart as a porta-potty!

It was exactly that..a five gallon pail! But this one had a minature seat to sit on and even a lid! Whoopdedoo! We now had out own private(??) bathroom. Well not so, as it was just behind the trailer. To my credit I did try it out a few times but I was never able to really manage the wiping part! I mean really! I have a bad back, bad knees and crappy shoulders and none of that helped. Travelling partner said it was too far to the outhouse for her but thereafter I made the little walk whenever necessary. There is not much to “running” an outhouse and I KNOW how to manage that! Of course I “heard” about leaving the lid up and the flies etc.on the porta-potty. Give me a break this was nothing short of gross!

I have camped before and if I had my drutheres I prefer my trips with friend Ann that we did with the horses. There was always water and beautiful scenery and it was so wonderful for the soul! There in the pole-yard I felt my soul die a bit each day. It seemed like a jail sentence and a whole month more seemed endless! The next morning with hat in hand, so to speak, I told partner I would like to go home.She seemed shocked and actually did not say a lot, to me at least. Again, at night apparently she told the family and they pointed out the lightbulb incident. In the end my plea was basically ignored and of course she would have to take me to Whitehorse in order to get out! BUT she did lighten up on me a bit and there were not too many other incidents until nearing the end, by which time I had something to shoot for.

Next post sleeping and snoring! ~~~~~

Yukon #1

My Yukon holiday has been a series of lessons. One is Appreciation. Another is to look carefully at things that seem like “an opportunity of a lifetime”. My brother says I always assume too much. I admit to being an optimist and a bit of a dreamer. When this trip first came up I thought of seeings places and things and a leisurely trip to the Yukon-possibly even seeing friends along the way? Just the name Yukon,seemed exciting.    And of course I have not gone many places. Instead, we tore up the highway stopping at a reasonable hour at mostly decent campsites and were there in six days.
Having been told I would have my own bed, I actually thought I had my own room. “Fine! thought I, “I will be able to escape at times.” Not so, there were two small beds a lane way apart and that was it. My companion laid down the rules quickly. There would be no toilet paper going down the toilet and it was only to be used for number one. Okay, and then what of the “other”? Well that was done in outhouses. Upon arrival in Lumby and getting to the trailer that was to be my home for almost 60 days, all my clothes were stuffed into a series of cupboards above my beds and all bags and the one suitcase were put in partners car and left in Lumby. Lights were not to be left on even though there was ample battery life in the form of a solar panel. 

I assumed her son lived in a normal house and we would hook on to water and power upon our arrival. I assumed he might live in a beautiful spot. Not so. In no time at all we were ensconced in a
pole yard.  Don't know what that is?  Well its an old sawmill site filled with decks of spruce logs that the son cuts into fire wood for campsites.
 I was not impressed. The “view” was of skinny sickly looking spruce trees all around, the road was totally bumpy into camp and the son was no better off than we in fact worse as all the pipes had frozen in his travel trailer and the fridge was buggered. No power to be had unless you fired up the generator or on occasion the welder.

I was told what water we had in the holding tank was all we had until something could be found to fill it.  I assumed this meant rationing and drank no water or very little all the way up to the Yukon. By that time I was getting seriously dehydrated. Luckily daughter B that came with us on a motorbike bought bottled water by the case and shared with me liberally.
Eventually water would be brought in on the back of the flat deck from a subdivision nearby in the biggest bottle you have ever seen!

Stay tuned for next edition of “Joyce in the Yukon”

Putting in Time

Well, Jiggs went home last night and the house immediately seemed super quiet.  I had wondered about his hearing, as he didn’t seem to listen all that well outside, but now think it was just “selective” hearing.  Our morning ritual seemed to be one of small noises coming from him over and over again.  For a time I wondered what it was.   Then when I moved of coughed or turned over in bed this “jack-in-the-box” Spaniel head would pop up from the side of the bed.  He may as well have talked and said ,“YOU AWAKE?” “OH GOOD,FINALLY!” I had to see the humour in it and what a good way to wake up –laughing at a dog.  Then of course it was a dance to the back door and I tell you he just made it to the grass before he was peeing.  But he has been drinking an awful lot of water this time and so I know he has to go in the mornings right away.  Jiggs has exuberance for life and once you accept that you can get along with him very well.  He didn’t get many walks this time due to the fact that I was having problems with my van.  However I took the van to a mechanic and got it fixed that day in a couple of hours. Wonderful, as I really hate being without wheels. Apparently some little bearing thing was losing its balls and it’s a wonder I could go anywhere for this long. Of course who knows when it first started.?  I am just so relieved to have it fixed so quickly.  Even so I got quite a few things done yesterday and got a ride up to the hospital to call Bingo and when I was going to walk home, found my friend Elaine outside in her car and got another ride. Doncha just love small towns???
   Although there always seems to be something to do around the house, the two main projects for the next couple of weeks are dunging out the basement for a yard sale and packing for my trip.  The latter has been on-going for some time, and my bags in the spare room are filling for sure. Only sixteen more days until departure. In some ways it doesn’t seem like enough time and in others it seems like too much time to wait.  I know I will settle down once I get going but getting me to that point could be something else!!
    I  would of course love to stop and see everyone I know, but that isn’t very practical as we will be pulling a trailer not just cruising around in a car.  Yes it’s a holiday but I am not alone and it wouldn’t be prudent nor smart to be looking for places and getting lost pulling a trailer behind us. Well, at least there are no horses in it and that is less worry for me anyway.  Now I have to do a little homework and run down some phone numbers of friends.  Should I make a sign that says “YUKON OR BUST”?
 

Nice May day

Had a busy and productive day yesterday and am off to Nelson today for a hearing test.  The Reddings were up bright and early and in full fettle! Doing the “Romp” over top of me with absolutely no respect for my sleep---so yeah, I got up. They are in the porch now and Teko and I are enjoying some peace and quiet. I do love the mornings here in Miracle House.
Not very long until I depart for the Yukon. Am I ready? Of course not! Am I gonna be in a FLAP? You bet!  I am always being told by friends that I “worry” too much and I guess it is true, just my nature I guess. Kind of like if I put the time in worrying it will all work out?  But those same friends are also the ones reminding me of different things as well.  This trip is a go and if I dip into my overdraft-so be -it! I will deal with that and make money upon my return.  Still, I have never been away from home for two months in my entire life! Ever!  I will certainly miss my life and the Reddings and Teko, but I leave them in good health and in good hands with my house/pet sitter. I am sure they will be fine.