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Skipping work with Maggie

by Laura Benson, Ontario

I was supposed to go to work today...I didn't. Don't worry my boss knows the truth...he was just sorry he couldn't come with me. Everybody should have a day like this. My friend and I call them "keeper days".What we mean is that in the middle of life's rush, one stops for just an instant and calls back a moment, or a whole day if one is lucky. One must remember every detail of a keeper moment when it happens. The sun's angles, the earthy smell in the air, even the sounds, like the sound of ice on a puddle cracking under the heat of the sun, or the otherwise unnoticed sound of water trickling down the shed roof. Keep them all, under lock and key. It doesn't take much practice really. We find that if we just say to ourselves out loud, "This is a keeper moment", the brain somehow absorbs the information through osmosis. It "bookmarks" the memory, shall we say.

So today was a "keeper" day. It's February, and true to the season, we had new powdery snow blown and sculptured into beautiful snowscapes along every hedgerow. But the sun...that glorious sun! It was so bright and so hot, that even standing in a foot of snow, if you turned your face to the sun and shut your eyes, it felt like June! And it was so bright, bouncing off of the snowdrifts with such deep contrasting shadows, that when you shut your eyes, the negative image of all that you saw was still visible on the insides of your eyelids.

So, I skipped out of work today and Maggie and I had way too much fun, in the snow and the sun. I hitched her up tight knowing the snow was so deep, and out we went. We headed for the track, but on the way down the hill, pony and cart both began sliding sideways. The mud had turned into slick soup under the intensity of the sun, despite the still freezing temperatures. But Maggie carried on, slipping and sliding until we got to the far side of track, where, in a kind of "oxy moron" of environments, we discovered that the drifts were almost up to her shouders! Did Maggie care...not in the least! I on the other hand, was extremely grateful that we had earlier shored up the welds on the cart as we lurched and slid, bumped and tilted. But when all that powdery snow began drifting back towards me, I became entranced by the dazzle of a million sunlit diamonds, swirling before my eyes. And the feel, how can I describe to you that incredible feeling, like a cool caress, as they danced against my skin and then melted on contact. In fact, I became so overwhelmingly absorbed in just the moment, that I "keeper moment", I forgot every bad thing that had ever happened in my life, and forgave every wrong that would come in the future. Life was just that good!!

We drove for over an hour today, through some fields, down the lane. I waved at the driver of a big 18 wheeler, who blew his horn, but I'm sureit was not out of anger or spite. He had a big smile and a heartfelt wave back. He too had had a moment like this one, I'm sure of it. How could you not be swept away by the exuberance of the scene. Brilliant white snow, a clear blue sky, sleigh bells ringing merrily, even if they are tied to a little blue cart with a piece of binder twine! And best of all, a golden pony making it all appear effortless, as she glided along with a cheerfulness and pluck, that I have never ever experienced before from a horse. My how she loves to move out!

So I apologize to all of you committed people out there that dutifully went to work today. However, I ask one more thing of you. If you have read this far, it means that you too dream of a keeper moment like
mine. Therefore, I demand that all of you, go out this month and give yourself a keeper moment. February is a tough month to make it through without either depression or sickness. So help yourself through it. Give yourself a Valentine's gift! Go out and ride, or drive, on the next sunny day that looks promising! Or for that matter, just lean against the south side of the barn on a sunny day and soak it all in. This is Life folks! This is the only moment that you know for sure is going to exist. I for one am going to keep it.

And when I close my eyes many years from now, even if within the depressing walls of a nursing home (which I pray I never in reality see), I will still have every sensation of this entire moment to come
back to. Think of it as an "interactive" memory, if you will, of a February day in the year 2000 that I will never, ever forget!!

Thanks for letting me share it with you. I wish I could have fit all 150 of you into that silly little cart of mine. You simply have no idea how long I have waited to have moments like these. They have just
topped ice cream as my favourite thing in life... but don't tell the hubby I said that!