From the car, at dusk and beyond: free, hot coffee, a conversation with horses near a place of prayer; a raven blurred
Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 1:00PM 
As usual, when I am home, I took a break at 4:00 PM to drive to Metro Cafe to buy a hot Americano that I could sip at while I cruised and listened to all things considered on the radio. When I pulled up to the window, Elizabeth was there and she refused to sell me an Americano.
Somebody else had already bought one for me - along with a cinnamon roll. The gifter was an anonymous person, who refused to be identified.
Thank you, anonymous person.
After I drove away, I took a bite of the cinnamon roll and a sip, but found the coffee too hot to drink.
So I held it out the window for a minute or so. This caused my fingers to scald and freeze at the same time.
Interesting sensation.
When I pulled the coffee back in, it was just right.
I drove on, sipping and biting into the cinnamon roll, and then I found myself faced with a dark corridor ahead. I was on Sunrise Drive, but the sun had just set.
It looked so frightening that I wondered if I should turn around and go back.
But I knew there were horses ahead, along with a place to pray, should it get that bad.
I forged onward.
I reached the Mahoney horses, safely. They were thrilled and delighted to see me again.
"Bill!" they neighed out in unison. "We missed you! Where have you been for so long?"
"Tennessee!" I shouted back. "I've been in Tennessee!"
"Oh... okay, good," the horses said, as one. "Did you see any horses there?"
"Yes," I shouted back. "I saw thousands of horses! Tennessee is trotting with horses. There are horses everywhere in Tennessee. I even saw Tennessee Ernie Horse!"
The Mahoney horses were thrilled. They neighed in pleasure and approval.
It was a lie. I have never been to Tennessee in my life.
And Tennessee Ernie was a Ford - not a horse.
But the Mahoney horses bought it. They believed me.
It made them happy.
I would rather tell a horse a small lie and have him be happy with me than tell him the truth and make him angry at me.
I've had horses get angry with me in the past.
It is no fun at all.
Unless you like that kind of thing.
Getting bucked off of horses, I mean.
In the old days, when I lived among cowboys, I knew plenty of people who enjoyed getting bucked off of angry horses.
I never did like it. It gave me something to brag about afterward, but it was no fun.
Then I pulled in briefly to Grotto Iona, just across the road from the Mahoney horses. I am not much of religious person, yet, when you come into a place where people have buried their loved ones and created a place to pray, it does not hurt to say a prayer and it shows respect, so I did.
I don't think it will change anything, but I said it, anyway.
Who knows, for sure?
It won't hurt.
I turn around and drive the opposite direction on Sunrise, with the sunset at my back.
When I turn back towards the sunset afterglow, I see a raven flying toward me. I catch it only in a blur as it passes over my windshield.
It does not matter to me that it is blurred.
All that matters is that I shared a moment of magic with this raven and if a blur is what I have to remember, I will remember the blur.
I would have lied to the raven, too, but no one can lie to a raven and get away with it.
Ravens are just too smart.
You might think that you are smarter than a raven, but you are wrong.
The raven is smarter than you.
Just try to outsmart one, sometime, and you will learn what I mean.
;)
Later, about 9:17 PM, I was sitting right here, at my computer and I couldn't take it anymore. So I got into the car and drove into downtown Wasilla, wandering if I should get an ice cream cone at Dairy Queen.
Across from the fire station, I saw a man, walking down the road, barely caught in the glow of headlights.
This is one of those pictures that works well seen big not so well at blog size.
But blog size is what is available to me and it is my favorite picture from yesterday, so here it is, blog size. You can see it a little larger in the slide show, if you like. Or you could click on the image, if you wanted to see just this one larger and none of the others.
Personally, I recommend that you see them at all at slide show size. So please go to the slide show.
I did not get an ice cream at Dairy Queen, nor did I get a Taco at Taco Bell. I did check the mail. I got a Sun magazine, and a bill. I don't what kind of bill. I didn't pay any attention to it. I just put it somewhere where hopefully Margie will find it after she returns home.
Reader Comments (7)
I am not sure of the difference between a raven and a crow, but I walked to class early one morning, and watched a crow pulling food wrappers from the trash can, inspecting them for food and then tossing them to the ground. I had time, and so I stopped to pick up the trash, speaking firmly to him about littering. I also gave him a bit of my granola bar. He watched me very closely as I set it on the ground before him. He swooped down as soon as I stepped away, and snatched it up and flew back up into the nearby branch and had his snack. I walked on, and he once again had flown to the trash can to sort through the rubbish there looking for a snack. Like my friend Bill Hess, he seemed to have a real fondness for fast food.
Bill, I enjoy your blog so much and your pictures are beautiful. Some more on a grand scale and most the beauty of everyday living. Your diary as you travel is inspiring in all the people you meet. We truly are a country of ordinary people who make an extraordinary difference in the most ordinary ways. Thank you for your contribution.
Wow Bill, that picture of the raven is by far my favorite yet!
The picture looking toward the sunset on Sunrise is magic
Oh those ravens are so crafty! I remember listening to them on the roof! So much fun!!! I love your posts — such wonderful vignettes that perfectly describe our wonderful lives in Alaska. It takes a hearty soul sometimes to see the beauty that surrounds us all the time, but you reach for and hit that chord often.
bill, pbs had a show about crows. they're among the most intelligent of all animals, and like us, teach their chicks who to fear. you can watch it online if you wish, perhaps sipping something hot while doing so. nothing like a good hot drink. i'm assuming crows and ravens are close cousins. the taco bell shot was incredible...almost like a western movie set.
according to wiki, ravens and crows are in the same genus - corvus.