Driving back from the barn this evening, I realised that I've been back from Romania for about as long as I lived there. Doing a little more calculation, the equal point must be about now. I was away from May 1999 to April 2008, nine years and eleven months. I've been back for nine years and eleven months too. Yes, it's this month that the periods equal out.
So, it was over a decade ago that I finished working as a trail guide and horse keeper. Suddenly that seems like a long time ago.
Since then, I've spend almost ten years working in assorted offices. During that time I've helped move some larger and smaller projects, which have been useful and will contribute to quality of life for many people. 'Larger' means £2.5bn for a new metro line, which will help a lot of people get to work more easily and cheaply. There have been good times, and some harder times over the past couple of years too - hopefully the latter are drawing to an end. There has certainly been rich self-discovery.
But not a day goes by when I don't think of being outdoors with horses. Some nights I see them in dreams. Those nine years and eleven months made a huge impact on my life, and that remains threaded through my unconscious. I am grateful to have my lovely mare, Brena, to ride as often as possible.
I've come to realise how important ritual can be. Some sort of celebration and perhaps 'letting go' is needed. I'll be moving to a new house next month too. So I'd better organise a party that can be part fun, part ritual, and part celebration. It's time to get creative!
I remember how tiring that trail guide job was. From April to October I'd be working at least twelve hours a day six days a week, and six hours every Sunday too. Winter came with a sense of relief, knowing that I could work shorter hours (like eight hours a day with weekends mostly free). the cold, dark months were for recuperation. Spring, of course, was received with joy. It's always wonderful when the world seems to awaken.
Back in Romania I wasn't a musician. Now I can compose as well as play guitar and sing, so here's a song that I wrote last week about that life as a trail guide. It's in guitar tab (I don't read musical notation) and I'd play it on a conventionally tuned guitar on capo 1. (Mine is usually tuned half a tone flat, which is another story.)
It really was as full and tiring as I describe, and we did spend a lot of time fixing things. A fair amount of medication was consumed latterly, though not amphetamines (which weren't available even if Kelli, who had more life experience than me, mentioned them). A lot of the time we were running to keep up, through the summer certainly. It makes me realise just how hard people can work when they are happy, driven to succeed, and care about what they deliver.
Trail guide
Intro: I Am I F I C I G I Am I
I Am I G I
Feed and water the horses at dawn
I Am I Em I
Saddle them all up ready to go
I Am I G I
Collect our guests when they’ve woken
I Am I Em I F I G
And fix whatever goes wrong.
My back aches from daily bumping
Tramadol’s there to ease the pain
Pills for breakfast with my coffee
They’ll fix whatever goes wrong.
Chorus:
I F I C I
Long hours out riding the trail
I F I C I
Through sun and wind and rain
I F I C I
Long hours out riding the trail
I Am I G I F I C I G I Am I
Out on the mountain every day.
Help the beginner who finds it all hard
Placate the princess when nothing’s right
Encourage the children when they tire
And fix whatever goes wrong.
If we had amphetamines now
We’d take them, Kelli and me
Keep our tired bodies moving
They’ll fix whatever goes wrong.
Chorus
Check the horses at long day’s end
Feed and water each one again
Clean the tack, repair the stitches
And fix whatever goes wrong.
A shot of brandy to reward us
Anaesthetise us at day’s end
A shot each for Kelli and me
They’ll fix whatever goes wrong.
Chorus
Outro: I F I C I G I Am I
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