Beyond the Book: Christmas Presents

 What are the two best Christmas presents you ever received? 

I hope everyone has been reading the blog this week. Our Monday and Tuesday foxes have some great memories to share, and I definitely agree that the best gifts are the intangible gifts, the ones that warm your heart for your entire lifetime. But this was my topic so I’m going to focus on gifts.

Probably the number one gift was a horse. I was horse crazy as a girl and begged so hard for a horse of my own. I finally got her when I was in the fifth grade. I was sick that Christmas morning, and ice covered the ground, but I didn’t care because of the note we found under our tree. It’s not good poetry, but the note said, Roses are red, violets are blue, in Larry’s barn is something for you. I got dressed in minutes flat and Daddy took us to Larry’s barn where we found a pretty palomino mare that I named Stardust. I insisted on riding her bareback to the stream for water, and I slid off her and knocked my breath out. Not too great a beginning to my career as a horsewoman! 

It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that she was mine. For many years I rode her almost every day. I’d come home from school, saddle up, and away we’d go. I usually didn’t stop riding until dark. It’s something I’ll remember until the day I leave this world. Actually, not long ago I had a dream about riding. I could feel the horse’s muscles moving beneath me, giving me the urge to ride until we were both tired. I felt slightly bereft when I woke up and realized it was only a dream. I can’t ride now, though. I got old and my back is too bad to ride. If not for that I’d have a pretty mare, and we’d go on adventures together. We might even talk my husband into joining us even though he’s not much of a horse person. 

Actually, my second gift pales in comparison to that pretty mare so I think I’ll wrap it up now. It did have something to do with horses, though. 

I hope everyone has had the pleasure of a gift that brought so much joy into their life. If you have, I’d love to hear about it.