Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Putzing Around Town

 
 The other day my neighbor asked me if I wanted to go for a drive with her while she ran errands in town.
After spending too much time in the house I said I would go with her and I was actually surprised just how much I enjoyed putzing around town with this lady.
The first stop was to visit a friend of hers, who also happens to be the owner of a few very interesting and amazingly beautiful horses.
The woman lives just on the outskirts of town - still actually in town but tucked away on a quiet side street and with five acres of property.
Enough for a few horses.
As we drove down the driveway I looked over to a small fenced and grassy area to my right.
A horse had his back to us and I do not know very much about horses, but even this untutored horse-person  could see that this was a very strong and muscular animal.
When my neighbor called to him he turned and calmly and casually walked over to us.
He was beautiful.
Muscular.  
A manly horse.  
A stallion.  
The father of the baby boy who was born not long ago at our house:
Our neighbor talked easily to him and petted him, and this large and very muscular horse stood as though he owned the place.
This was my first experience with a stallion - the large jaw and the muscle he held made him an awesome creature.
It was so good to meet him and I cautiously stroked his neck and the side of his face and one side of his body for a few minutes.
Beautiful animal but that was close enough for me.
With my limited experience with horses I don't know what to do with the rest of their bodies.
I almost got kicked in the head by a mule one time a few years ago.  He missed me by only a few feet when he kicked back and sideways at me.
That taught me my lesson.
A very experienced horsewoman died in Powell just a few months ago when she was kicked in the head by one of her own horses.
And my neighbor still has a very large bruise on her thigh where she was kicked by a playful new bouncing baby boy..........
 The little cowpoke grandson of the property owner...........
 And this is little Petey's big brother.
He is two years old, and in my brief time around horses I have come to realize that I seem to be drawn to the coloration of horses just like this one.
The light brown body and white tail and mane.
Such a very beautiful boy...........
 There were a couple of other horses on the property including this miniature..........
 
 Curious about something in the bottom of the wagon..........
 
 
 Lilac bushes are now seen all over Cody.
It is one plant that seems to grow well and lushly in this semi-arid environment............
 My neighbor used to work at this nursery. 
The only nursery in town it is huge and when we visited the other afternoon the place was filled with people.
My neighbor was there to pick up vegetable plants.
She has a green house filled with growing potatoes, green onions, zucchini, celery and various types of peppers and tomatoes.
Not long from now she will have her own over-flowing vegetable nursery.
On this day I took a few pictures of a few flowers..........
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Finally we went to the Ponderosa Campground just on the outside of the city limits, and only a mile from the rodeo grounds:
My neighbor seems to know people all over town including the owners of this campground and she dropped by to visit, and to show me the site.
I don't get very excited about urban campgrounds because they are not something that I would want to do, preferring instead to camp "out" - away from people and the trappings of civilization.
But this is a very beautiful campground - beautiful landscaping, sites for RV's and tents and those who prefer cabins, a gift store with a variety of souvenirs ranging from cheap to expensive, a restaurant, and (probably most importantly) both proximity to everything Cody offers as well as a great jumping off point for those headed to Yellowstone.
Nothing like run-on sentences...........
 Away from the masses parked in their RV's and down at the bottom of a long and steep gravel driveway, we came to these three tee-pees.
These interesting dwellings back onto the Shoshone River, and down in the valley it felt as though you would be actually "camping".
If I wanted privacy - or was camping with kids - I would absolutely rent out one of these............
 After I climbed out of the truck at the bottom of the hill the first thing I saw was this.
He watched me for just a minute and then was gone - down the embankment towards the river............
 There is most definitely increased traffic in town right now.
More RV's.  Many more motorcycles.  
The two biggest urban campgrounds (including this one) are now about 3/4 full.  
People are wandering on foot in and out of all the stores on the main strip in town.  
The Buffalo Bill Historic Museum parking lot is full:
But it does not seem as busy or as frenetic or as crazy as both LC and I had expected.
We asked someone in a restaurant today if business was down.
Business is way down.
The East Gate of Yellowstone only opened full time last week.
Which prevented many people from stopping in Cody on the way to Yellowstone.
Which also prevented many people who wanted to travel through the park from the west side to get through the gate specifically to come to Cody.
Businesses are very worried.
One gun/pawn shop owner told us that he had invested everything he had in the summer business.  He may not make it if business does not pick up.
I hope that soon everyone is complaining about the throngs of tourists and the busy streets and the lack of parking...............
 
 
 
 I spent a few minutes, after smilingly watching the deer watch me, walking along the river.
Surprisingly these two vehicles were laying along the bank on the opposite side of the river...........
 
 Who Would I Be if I Didn’t Have a Name?

Wisdom-edged woman in Levi’s,
lover of ponderosa, buffalo grass, and a cowboy.
Collector of rock and bone.
Companion of grandchildren, sagebrush
and a buckskin mare with velvet muzzle.
Driver of posts, stretcher of wire
on sweat-drenched, blue-sky days.
Seeker of deer in bur oak shade,
of hidden springs of earth-cooled water.
Reader of history, mystery, and love.
Poet-emerging.
Wide-hipped, opinionated,
callous-handed mother and friend.
My epitaph? The shadow of a prairie falcon
gliding over the prairie.............Patricia Frolander

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