As I was walking up to my truck this morning I noticed my driver’s side window was down. I didn’t think I had left it down but I was tired when I got home last night so I figured it was possible. I got within ten feet and the window rolled up, shit I thought, there’s either a homeless guy in there or someone’s trying to steal my truck. I yelled get out and this guy opens the door holding a screwdriver and I can see he’s broken the ignition so I’m mad and I say get the fuck out of my truck. He just sits there so I grab his coat and he tries to jab me with the screwdriver while I’m dragging him out into the street. He falls down so I reach into the back and grab a piece of 2x4 and he runs off. I made sure he was gone and then sat in the driver’s seat to try and calm down. After a few seconds I looked to the right and someone had drawn a big dick on the passenger window and written fuck you. Good morning midtown. On the brighter side of things, the sunrise was beautiful, hazy and pink, my truck was not stolen and my coffee is delicious.
So many hours this week, afternoon off, going swimming.
Good day working outside in the sun, took the old gray truck down county road 219 to repair a wagon, saw some antelope on the way, parked and left the windows down with the radio on while I worked, finished right at quitting time and drove back to the shop under blue skies dotted with fat white clouds.
I’m frustrated with old ideas still hanging on with sharp claws that cut deep into natural human want! Put your guilt on a shelf with a fruitcake and love yourself finally without remorse, then find someone that thinks and pull back the curtain and be known to them and gently ask them to do the same for you, then get drunk with them (but not too drunk) and eat well with them (but not too much) and get high with them (use books or weed or travel or whatever floats yer boat) and make love to them and fuck them too and after think, I am human, I am happy and this feels good and don’t let family or god or government or anyone else with stale old ideas tell you any different.
Up at 5:30 am and saw the horses come down from high pasture. There’s nothing quite like it, hundreds of horses of all sizes and colors running free through the valley.
After one month of hiking this trail nearly every morning, I finally made it all the way to the top without stopping to catch my breath. Sitting on top of this rock, feeling my heart racing in my chest, gulping for air while watching the sunrise over the mountains feels even better than usual this morning. I’m a happy man.
On top of a mountain and got a fire going with burgers grilling and a pot of beans boiling while the sun sets off to the west. Cheeseburger on a mountain top, check.
Up early with a quiet cup of coffee and my notebook. I attempted to sleep in past six but couldn’t so I’ve already been on a hike and written several small poems not worth posting. Looks like it’s going to be sunny and warm today so I’m going to head west to see more of these tough old rocks.
the ranch i’m working on is even more beautiful than i could have imagined. it’s nestled in a beautiful valley lined with aspens, to the east there is music mountain and to the west there’s stag mountain. today i fed ducks, rabbits, chickens and horses. i lined a section of the stream that flows through the ranch with rocks and i used a log peeler to make sections of fence that i’ll put up monday. after work, i hiked up towards stag mountain and caught an amazing view of the continental divide and scared up some deer, on the way down i collected bunches of sage that i hung in the window of my cabin, smells wonderful. everything is winding down for the day so i am going to settle in and wait for the moon to come back out.
i had a good week on the ranch, hiking every morning and working out with weights every other day before the work day even started. once at work, i did a lot of different things including digging trenches, fixing fences, repairing log bridges and throwing sticks for the ranch border collies aspen, lily, buddy and duke. i woke up to snow this morning and a white sky that seemed close enough to touch, the storms clouds swallowed up the tops of the mountains and dropped some of the biggest snowflakes i’ve ever seen leaving a layer of white on everything. i’m hoping for better weather tomorrow so i can hike to the top of music mountain, i need the exercise so i can climb my first fourteener next month!
dirk ashly knoedler
