Dear Muthuh,

Well, I guess all the Daytona head's are heading that way but I can't get my mind off on going back out West which reminds me - I'm telling a very important story here which I plan to attempt once again. You gotta live these stories to be able to tell 'em so sitting in front of this computer, feeling good, listening to Pink Floyd's "Delicate Sound of Thunder" is sometimes hard to get around to doing - ya' know?…

Anyway, I got to Tonto's house (and I refer to him like that with love to protect the privacy of his unsuspecting - he does have another name - I never know who you got reading these things) and his "house" turned out to be quite a site. He had lots and lots of horses and lot's and lot's of land - 150 something Quarter horses and Appaloosa's as it turned out and 200,000 acres of mountain range! I'll tell 'ya the rest of that story later but I was just looking around at all this and about that time, this airplane comes down from nowhere and lands out there in his field. I kept looking up at the house thinking somebody (my tour guide) would come out after hearing my bike roll up. I was fiddling around with my hair when the guy who got out of the plane walks up and says, "good morning." It was dude!

We had our small talk and he told me to take my bike over to the barn and park it there - so I did. I started unstrapping my sleeping bag and he say's, "let's ride horse!" I looked around and there he is with four horses - two packing and two saddled complete with sleeping bag back rests and all the comforts of a two night trip up into the mountains. Now, a woman's intuition (especially mine) is a wicked thing and all lights were green, fella!!! John Wayne, Billy Jack, Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford and all the rest of 'em didn't stand a chance here - I jumped on and off we went!! Muthuh, we rode up into those mountains (he was always in front of me) and I just couldn't help it - I was so overwhelmed with it all I couldn't help but jerk a few tears, Man. All of a sudden, he stopped and looked back at me (just to check on me I guess), caught me whipping tears, smiled and kept on going.

We rode about 20 more minutes when, again, his horse stopped and I noticed his horses ears were standing straight up and he was really alert about something. "T" took his binocular and looked out across the mountainside. I took the pair he gave me and looked too!! Damn!! There it was!! A great big ole bear standing straight up over the brush smelling up in the air toward out direction!!! It was the coolest thing I'd ever seen!!! The horses were cool. "T" was cool - so I was cool!! He said there were a lot of them out this year and I knew what he was talking about there!!

A few nights earlier, I had been at Four Corners Rally and a bear got into several bike's saddle bags knocking them over looking for food that somebody had left in there and then I was camping in these little campgrounds along the way where the Rangers would always come by checking to see if I had any food in my tent (I wouldn't by the way…) and then one evening I had stopped by this little bar outside of Bayfield where the locals had told me about this guy who has a house back in the mountains (hell, everybody has little houses back in the mountains up there…) and just the night before, he was sitting in his den in front of the fire when all of a sudden this bear dives right through the window, man!! He took his gun and shot him dead right in his house, man. (I have to shoot 'em outside my house, then drag 'em inside so it will be alright!! Know what I mean??) They said the berries hadn't developed that year and those bears were hungry!! I don't blame 'em!! Hell, cabin man should've had some granola bars or something handy for them though - I felt a little bad about that one.

"T" and I rode and we saw all kinds of wildlife. We saw wolves, carribou, crossed all kinds of streams and creeks, saw all kinds of birds, rode right through clouds and just had a wonderful, wonderful time that I will never forget nor take for granted. God IS great!!

We got up on this plateau at sunset and, again, I just felt like he planned it that way. Guess what? I felt like I was in The Wizard of Oz. I was right in the middle of a meadow of wildflowers!!! It was absolutely beautiful!! Again, I cried and I'm not a crybaby - never have been. I wanted to help set up camp but my intuitions told me he would probably be insulted if I offered to help. Besides, the flip of those intuitions told me I needed to soak up the scenery - Muthuh, it was (and I never use this word) - awesome!! I sat there on the side of that ledge looking straight into the setting sun and all I could think about was how damn lucky I was to be an American and free to do and be doing what I had always only dreamed of - being free and free to trust. Coming from Memphis, TN (where I have trouble just going to the gas station) this was enough to bring more tears on… I guess you just have to be me to understand…

Okay, I know you can't wait to hear what happened next, huh? The setting was right, the music of nature settling in for the night's rest makes for a natural setting for Tonto to make his move right? Wrong. I looked around and T had a fire going with marinated rabbit and other things he brought to cook cooking over the fire. He was taking care of business. I wasn't even thinking about food but when I walked over to the camp he offered me a piece of that rabbit he had gotten out of the freezer and, brother, it was THE best!! EVERYTHING was perfect!! I was ready to die and go to heaven - I was there anyway. I was sitting there by the fire and I noticed him checking out my bracelet. (Remember "The Bracelet"? -after all, that's what this story is all about!!)

He asked me, "who did you get that bracelet from?" I told him, "the Zuni's." He said, "I know. That bracelet is going to save your life." I immediately thought of what the Zuni's told me. They told me that "when" something happens to it - send it back and we will fix it. I didn't question them. I heard "send it back" and I was just thankful that I would have the opportunity TO send it back and, now, this guy is telling me "it will save your life"!! Again, I didn't question. Didn't have too. I knew something was going to happen - I just didn't know what. He seemed somewhat concerned on my behalf and, like me, didn't question or pursue discussing.

I felt like the subject needed to be changed so I changed it. I asked him what his story was. He said years ago, his dad worked for this white man who owned all this land. The man had no wife or children and left all this land to his dad and his dad left it to him. When he was a young man, he said they used to round up wild horses and now the young men used helicopters and such. I noticed while he spoke about it, it bothered him. I was tired so, yes Muthuh, I went to sleep in the tent he had set up for me. If I had any company, I'll just have to leave that up to your imagination…

TBC

Philly

 

 
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