A Ride on the Hill

 A Ride on the Hill

Ellen and I met at the barn.  The day before, it rained all day--there was no way we were crossing the river.  I asked her what she wanted to do.  She was uneasy about going in the park.  She didn't know if the planes were taking off or landing.  Dante is fine if the planes are taking off, but he will sometimes spook when they are landing--though he hasn't had a really big spook in a few years.  She was also concerned that it was a garbage day and the trucks go down the street in the morning.

I was able to talk her into riding on the hill.  I was curious to see how high the river was and it was a great day to be out in the park considering it is still February.  

We were halfway down the hill, when the thought crossed my mind that Ellen was worried about the wrong things.  Dante is fine with the planes and a garbage truck is just a truck--and we get plenty of warning as it comes down the street.  The real thing to worry about was falling trees.  A lot of trees fall--not on stormy days--but the day after the storm.  All the rain weakens them.

I decided not to remind Ellen--she has enough things to worry about. 

I'm not exaggerating--not 30 seconds after this thought crossed my mind, we heard a loud crack and then the sound of a tree breaking and falling to the ground!  We were both looking in the direction of the noise but we didn't see anything.  When I first heard the crack, I took contact with the reins.  I am glad to say that Cole didn't even flinch. 

Dante did, but Ellen isn't sure if he was startled by the noise or if he detected her fear and reacted from her.  He calmed down very quickly, and we continued on our ride.  I mentioned to Ellen what I had just been thinking, and she said, "Now I have something else to worry about."  I did tell her that I doubted that a second tree would fall on the same ride.  I suppose it could have happened, but it just wasn't likely.  I was right.

We rode up and down the hill three times.  The river was very high, but with all the rain we had, I thought it would actually be higher.  We did see a large group of turkeys, and I heard my first Kildeer of the year flying overhead.  Dante spooked at a squirrel, too.  It was another great trail ride.