Hot Rod Cowgirl

Talented country orchestra performs nightly symphonies where I live!

The gifted musicians give their all with award winning music that fills our country nights, as it drifts into our open windows with a soft canyon breeze that gently caresses the night air. As the day begins to cool off, the symphony begins, singing me to sleep with an orchestra of various cricket musicians…they are on the first movement and it is truly beautiful to hear…with an occasional deep-toned rib-it from the frogs…and then silence…as the second set of musicians adds drama to the night.

Hearing the screech of a hawk passing overhead, begins the second movement…as one of our dogs follows with several barks…and then our pack of dogs head out to give several more barks…setting off the coyotes, howling with different pitches to make it interesting…and on cue, night owls begin hooting on the hill behind the house in one of the trees…and then, silence once again….out of the stillness of night, one cricket will begin with one chirp, then another cricket follows and soon the symphony begins again.

A few summer nights each year, the night does not move with the usual rhythm of sounds. Often when we have a storm coming, the crickets stop…it seems darker and eerily still…no breeze…just the sound of a deep silence…you know something is up! It becomes an odd kind of night but knowing the signs of our animals and country life…we usually know when either a storm is coming or someone or something is sneaking around.

Minnie Mouse is taking in all the night moves with us, as she loves the night sounds too….she likes to sleep in the windowsills at night so she can smell the night smells and see whatever her eyes can see and listen to the various sounds…once she has had enough, she curls up next to me on the bed sleeping in peace, as she dreams of magical kitty memories, exploring warm summer nights. I do the same thing…as memories of growing up come back to my mind, going outside barefooted, walking through grass wet from the dew, looking up and seeing a million stars overhead…softly saying, star so bright, star so light, first star I see tonight…closing my eyes and making my wish.

I still run around barefooted, walking across the gravel if necessary to capture a great photo opportunity or just to go see a horse….WB thinks its weird that I can do this but he does not have country calloused padding on the bottom of his feet like me. His feet are prettier as numerous horses have stepped on my toes…breaking several that healed crooked and look gnarly from being squished. I’m always barefooted in the warm summer months….inside or out, as I love the feel of my bare feet on the old wood floors in our house.

Summer nights in the country are created for us to sit outside to be part of the miracles of the night. I love the front porch swing, gently swinging as we watch the stars….trying to figure out the constellations. “Did you see that?” A falling star or a satellite passing by…as the heavens of spring and summer are incredible…and then fall comes and brings on occasion the Northern Lights…what a WOW experience the first time I saw them here! I could not fathom seeing the curtains of colors and lights in the dark night sky…I was struck with awe! God created beauty all around us if we will just stop…shhhhh…listen and wait…there…did you see it, the falling star?

Look for God’s blessings in your life…I know you will find them!

God brought Minnie into our lives as a little kitten, that needed a home. She was a little over 4 weeks old and I fell in love with her sweet face, her eyes and her soft mews…she has been our constant companion and my shadow, for 18 years now…we celebrated her 18th birthday on Mom’s Day weekend. She is a gift from God in our lives, having gone through loosing parents, surviving surgeries and living the ups and downs of life to the fullest…she is our nurse and often our clown. Tonight she sleeps curled up next to me, gently snoring, dreaming away.

My hubby of 37 years adds his own input on the nighttime symphony…softly warming up for a good night of snoring, that begins with a soft clicking sound in his throat that builds to a crescendo of rumble, roar and then he SNORTS! Waking himself up, he clears his throat and drifts back to sleep…silence…finally I begin to drift off myself…ahhhh…and just as I was about to drift into sleep…Minnie begins snoring too, keeping it amusing for me! I have a nighttime symphony on each side of me and out the windows too:)

The soft breeze tonight is telling me that soon in a few more weeks…the wheat will begin to turn from green to a reddish gold as the heads will begin to dry. I love the smell of it in the night air…harvest memories will flood back into my mind filled with days of old, good times and fun times. These are the sounds of country silence and the sounds of the nighttime symphony…they are the sounds of an ordinary country girl’s life.

Have a magical, musical, country night! HRCG over and out…..