THE CRAZY HORSE

9-11-09...THE CRAZY HORSE

I've wrote about Smokey before. He was a huge gray horse that Brenda's Daddy owned. He was mean and we were all afraid of him but Sid would not get rid of him. He thought Smokey could be a good gentle plow horse.
He decided one day that he would break Smokey to ride and we could all enjoy him. Now let me tell you, I don't know what the others thought about it but I would have never rode that old horse under any circumstances .
Sid got a saddle somewhere and attempted to put it on Smokey. Smokey bolted knocking Sid down in the process. Auntie was calling him crazy, stupid and lots of other things. She said, "Sid you can not break that horse to a saddle, you don't know how and you are going to get yourself killed". Well you could just see Sid stubborn up. He was even more determined now. He tried several more days and finally managed to get the saddle on without getting his head knocked off. Then came days and days of trying to get up in the saddle. In the meantime every time I got a chance I'd go look at Smokey. I got to where he would look at me right in the eye and I would talk to him. I really thought he was communicating with me. What he was probably doing was wishing he could get loose and plow my stupid face in. I kinda got to thinking maybe Ol' Smokey and I had made friends. I'm really surprised now that I didn't try to climb on his back. Thank God I didn't!!!
Norman and I was out in the yard one day playing. We hadn't seen him yet but we heard Sid hollering, "Nubbin, Look at this". (Nubbin was what everyone called Norman. Later shortened to Nub). About that time we saw Sid and Smokey through the big Persimmon tree. Sid was sitting proudly in the saddle. He was grinning from ear to ear proclaiming to everyone listening, "I did it"! Well I'll be He did it, he really broke that ol' mean horse. Yep sure nuff' he did. About that time Smokey's front feet went up in the air, and Sid went flying off the back side right in to the hard dirt road.
Auntie came out the door of her house and we took off toward Sid. We were told to stay back because that ol horse was headed our way then. He was crazier' than a bessie bug!!!!
Sid wasn't hurt much, mostly his pride and his back side. He got a worse tongue lashing from Auntie than any of us kids had ever got before. It didn't help nary a bit though. It just seemed to have strengthened Sid's resolve to conquer that horse. He hired some bronk busters who did it for a living. They declared that Ol Smokey was a lost cause after one day on the job. We finally got that ol' nag out of the pasture then because Sid finally sold him. I never heard how the new owners fared with Smokey but I doubt he ever became a docile sweet ol horse like our Dixie was. Nope just wasn't in that ol horse to be gentle. He was just flat mean. YEP!!!

SMOKEY THE MAGIC DRAGON

9-10-09...

SMOKEY THE MAGIC DRAGON
Sometimes I find myself wondering when in the heck I got so old. Well as a matter of fact I don't really call myself old or fat. I'm pleasantly plump and matured. There that sounds much better doesn't it? Yep!
But it seems like yesterday I was young and happy, skipping along on dirt roads barefoot in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. I never dreamed of getting old. I guess I thought I'd always be young and vigorous. Full Of life and Mischief. My body and mind were strong then and my major' problems were small things.
I remember when I was growing up how much fun everything was. Things like squishing my toes through black mud, or chicken, cow, or horse poop. Delicious!!!!
What I did Brenda did. Later our Brother's were right there too. I guess you could call me the ring leader because I was a bit more spunky than the others. I got them all in trouble sometimes. But Most times we covered for one another.
One day we were playing softball in Brenda's pasture. There was a cow called Pet, and a horse called Smokey in the pasture with us. We were all scared of the horse and had had some run in's with him. Smokey was getting' too close for comfort one day so I threw the ball at him and said, "Shew Smokey, get out of here"! I had done this before and smokey would run off. Well this time I hit him in the head with the ball and he got mad. He started raring up and stomping his feet. He was shaking his head and getting ready to charge. I got scared but I also got tickled and was crying scared with a giggle fit. I said, "He looks like a fire breathin' dinosaur. I even could imagine that I saw fire coming out his nostrils.
The others were already climbing under the fence and there I stood. I heard them calling me to hurry but I was fascinated with that dragon. I started shaking my head at Smokey and stomping my feet on the ground and growling ferociously . I think I had transformed myself in to some kind of fairy tale land because what sense I had was floatin' around in space somewhere.
Smokey got real still and ducked his head but I just got still and ducked my head. Every stance he took I copied it. By then Smokey must have had himself worn out but I was still snorting and raring to go. Heck fire now I was having a ball.
My Auntie had come in the pasture behind me without my knowing. She grabbed me around the waist and I was on the other side of the fence before I could blink twice. She wore my butt out and gave me a tongue lashing, then sent me home. I went running down the lane with Norman right behind me. I ran in the house and Yelled, "Mama, Auntie threw me over the fence for no reason"!! Well you know Mama didn't believe a word of that and she found out for herself what had really happened real quick like.
I got my butt' burned again right there. I know now how scared Mama and Auntie must have been. That night when our Daddies got home we all ate supper together and I got so many hugs I was almost in Fairy Land again. But Not Quiet because by then I knew exactly why I had got two butt' beatings. Of Course I deserved it all. Well maybe not all the hugs. TEE HEE!!!!