Though it was just past three in the afternoon Sanders had been up since a quarter to five in the morning. He’d made himself breakfast and put left overs out for his daughter once she woke. After feeding the variety of animals he’d found himself owning, Sanders, with the help of his usual crew, herded the cattle from the Neverland to Camelot. The names of the fields, like the ranch, he had inherited from his family. Some uncle or cousin at some point had the opportunity to name the various fields and they’d stuck.
No sense in reinventing the wheel.
With his cattle in happily fertilizing a new field, Sanders had sent the crew home for the day. It was afternoon feed time at the barn and Akiko was busy trying to figure out how many barn cats he’d acquired. They seemed to breed and wander off at varying rates over the years and Sanders had lost sense of which cat belonged to what litter and how many there were.
He glanced at his watch and stared out towards the entrance of the ranch expecting a visitor soon. It was the riding teacher he had contacted to get Akiko formal lessons while she was with him for the summer per the custody agreement he'd worked out with her mother. The riding lessons were something for her to do other than play video games when he was busy - not that he had an issue with the video games. Sanders only ever wanted to send Akiko home with experiences she wouldn’t get from her mother when she spent her summers with him. Something to keep her wanting to come back to stay with him as the custody arrangement was contingent on Akiko wanting to continue it. And year after year she kept coming back.
A hazy cloud of red dust rising from the midst of the fields of blue columbines that lined the winding dirt road to the front of the ranch signaled a vehicle approached. The dogs had sensed it first and raced off barking wildly. It could be intimidating for first time visitors to find themselves surrounded by a pack of eager barking herd dogs though they weren’t menacing in the least.
“That’ll be your teacher.” He said to his daughter as he moved towards the horse he’d saddled for her lesson. “I’ll go get ‘em.”
Sanders mounted the chestnut and white speckled stallion and rode out to meet the vehicle. Knowing the dogs would beat him to the vehicle at their head start he rode at a moderate gallop, taking the horse through the columbine patches to flank the vehicle negotiating the dogs that threatened to get under tire and the gravel path that had been roughed up by heavy trucks that always came through on work business.
With two fingers in his lips he whistled at the dogs yelling a command for them to get away from the truck. The sound of his whistle was sharp and cut through the noise of hooves and tires over rocks. The dogs with tongues slinging saliva ran back towards their master. Smiling he waved at the driver and indicated with his hand that they should continue straight ahead and turn off to the right. Once he was satisfied that they understood his directions he turned the horse around whistling at the dogs again to follow him as he rode back towards the house holding his wide brimmed white hat to his head. Through the columbine field he had a more direct route and easily beat the driver.
Sanders dismounted the horse and dusted his hands on worn Levis. He had a red and black flannel shirt tied around his hips and was down to a dirt stained white t-shirt as the day had warmed considerably since the morning. He stood by with the reins in hand waiting for his guest with his pack of eager dogs running excited circles in the yard expecting a new friend.
No sense in reinventing the wheel.
With his cattle in happily fertilizing a new field, Sanders had sent the crew home for the day. It was afternoon feed time at the barn and Akiko was busy trying to figure out how many barn cats he’d acquired. They seemed to breed and wander off at varying rates over the years and Sanders had lost sense of which cat belonged to what litter and how many there were.
He glanced at his watch and stared out towards the entrance of the ranch expecting a visitor soon. It was the riding teacher he had contacted to get Akiko formal lessons while she was with him for the summer per the custody agreement he'd worked out with her mother. The riding lessons were something for her to do other than play video games when he was busy - not that he had an issue with the video games. Sanders only ever wanted to send Akiko home with experiences she wouldn’t get from her mother when she spent her summers with him. Something to keep her wanting to come back to stay with him as the custody arrangement was contingent on Akiko wanting to continue it. And year after year she kept coming back.
A hazy cloud of red dust rising from the midst of the fields of blue columbines that lined the winding dirt road to the front of the ranch signaled a vehicle approached. The dogs had sensed it first and raced off barking wildly. It could be intimidating for first time visitors to find themselves surrounded by a pack of eager barking herd dogs though they weren’t menacing in the least.
“That’ll be your teacher.” He said to his daughter as he moved towards the horse he’d saddled for her lesson. “I’ll go get ‘em.”
Sanders mounted the chestnut and white speckled stallion and rode out to meet the vehicle. Knowing the dogs would beat him to the vehicle at their head start he rode at a moderate gallop, taking the horse through the columbine patches to flank the vehicle negotiating the dogs that threatened to get under tire and the gravel path that had been roughed up by heavy trucks that always came through on work business.
With two fingers in his lips he whistled at the dogs yelling a command for them to get away from the truck. The sound of his whistle was sharp and cut through the noise of hooves and tires over rocks. The dogs with tongues slinging saliva ran back towards their master. Smiling he waved at the driver and indicated with his hand that they should continue straight ahead and turn off to the right. Once he was satisfied that they understood his directions he turned the horse around whistling at the dogs again to follow him as he rode back towards the house holding his wide brimmed white hat to his head. Through the columbine field he had a more direct route and easily beat the driver.
Sanders dismounted the horse and dusted his hands on worn Levis. He had a red and black flannel shirt tied around his hips and was down to a dirt stained white t-shirt as the day had warmed considerably since the morning. He stood by with the reins in hand waiting for his guest with his pack of eager dogs running excited circles in the yard expecting a new friend.
Bitch, I'm limited edition.
The following 1 user Likes saronym's post: megs
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Summer Reins [Closed] - by megs - 11-07-2016, 10:41 AM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by saronym - 11-08-2016, 12:08 PM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by megs - 11-08-2016, 07:24 PM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by saronym - 11-09-2016, 04:33 PM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by megs - 11-10-2016, 04:05 PM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by saronym - 11-10-2016, 05:35 PM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by megs - 11-11-2016, 12:46 PM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by saronym - 11-16-2016, 01:07 PM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by megs - 11-16-2016, 04:30 PM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by saronym - 12-01-2016, 08:54 PM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by megs - 12-03-2016, 07:03 AM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by saronym - 12-04-2016, 12:29 PM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by megs - 12-07-2016, 03:38 PM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by saronym - 12-08-2016, 01:49 PM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by megs - 12-24-2016, 02:44 PM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by saronym - 12-24-2016, 04:13 PM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by megs - 02-05-2017, 09:45 AM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by saronym - 04-30-2017, 12:24 AM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by megs - 04-30-2017, 06:44 PM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by saronym - 05-12-2017, 11:21 AM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by megs - 05-15-2017, 11:00 AM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by saronym - 05-18-2017, 01:11 AM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by megs - 05-21-2017, 04:53 PM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by saronym - 05-27-2017, 06:25 PM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by megs - 05-29-2017, 03:46 PM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by saronym - 06-09-2017, 10:03 PM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by megs - 06-24-2017, 09:15 PM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by saronym - 06-27-2017, 12:44 AM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by megs - 07-23-2017, 08:57 AM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by saronym - 08-03-2017, 05:52 PM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by megs - 08-08-2017, 05:53 PM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by saronym - 08-13-2017, 06:56 PM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by megs - 10-09-2017, 07:32 PM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by saronym - 10-24-2017, 12:20 PM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by megs - 11-06-2017, 01:58 PM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by saronym - 11-22-2017, 01:43 AM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by saronym - 03-15-2018, 12:41 AM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by megs - 01-05-2018, 07:52 PM
RE: Summer Reins [Closed] - by megs - 04-01-2018, 04:35 AM