Peter in Colorado
On Colorado highway 14, a black SUV travelled west towards Fort Collins. Inside, Peter Morris had his cell phone to his ear. On the other end, his wife Lou was asking about his business trip for his new job with an energy research firm out of Edmundton, Alberta, Canada.
"This new research job working with the oil shale industry is showing promise" said Peter.
"Great Peter", said his wife with enthusiasm.
"The meetings here in Colorado are going well. Monday's meeting is at Colorado State. We are talking about environmental friendly ways to do oil shale fracking."
Lou reminded Peter, "Well make sure you have Amy's address there and when you visit her, give her a hug and that care package I sent with you."
"I should be able to see Amy sometime Monday for dinner. Did you let her know I was coming?", asked Peter.
"No - its a surprise. So don't spoil it by calling ahead of time."
Peter said, "Will do Lou. And you give our baby girl a big kiss from me. Love to both of you...", as he pulled into the outskirts of Fort Collins. Within 10 minutes, Peter found his hotel on North College street and was checking into his room.
After dinner, Dean Richards gave Brigitta and Amy a little tour of the Mountain Meadows property, including the barn and small corral area where a couple of horses were penned up.
"Who are these fellas?", asked Amy.
"This old fella is Champ... a quarter horse that used to do barrel racing and run cattle a few years back. Now he just takes it easy and we spoil him."
"Sounds like our family's old horse Pegasus...", said Amy a bit melancholy.
"This other fellow here is Lakota - he is my work horse. We can ride the mountain slopes, fixing fence and dragging dead timbers down for firewood", said Dean.
"Your terrain up this high in the mountains is a bit different than our Alberta foothills. I can appreciate the need for a good footed mountain horse", said Amy.
Amy continued, "I guess your winter weather is not quite as cold in Colorado?"
Dean answered, "Most winter days have sun and temperatures of around 40 degrees… it's colder in the shade and the snow never melts on the south slopes".
Amy smiled, "I wish our winter days were close to that temperature… its more likely that we have strong winds and temperatures around -5 degrees Celsius.
Brigitta added, "Our climate is not as cold down here, but Colorado does get deep snows in February through April, which make a sure footed horse important up here."
Amy said, "well if you ever need someone to take Lakota for a ride, give me a call over at Brigitta's place..."
Dean smiled, "I will do that..."
As they walked back up the slope toward the house from the barn, Amy notices a small pad of artificial turf with tees and golf balls. "What do you have here?", Amy pointed to the spot.
"Well, I'm an avid golfer and so this is my driving practice area." I have a large meadow down the slope that I use for target practice."
"How neat... A friend of mine in the mountains near Banif has a little golf tee box area to practice. He is always looking for his 'eagle' so to speak", laughed Amy.
Dean asked..."well perhaps some afternoon after classes, you could go golfing with either my wife or I? We usually play once a week."
"I'm not exactly good at golf. I just hit a couple balls once, and that has been almost two years ago," said Amy.
"Well, there is no time like the present to try for that eagle", as they all laughed.
The trio walked on up to the house, said their goodbyes and retired for the day.
The rest of the weekend gave Amy a chance to finish some coursework for Monday, to ride the horses at Brigitta's stable and email Ty and her grandpa about his old acquaintance from the cattle business days - Dean Richards. Amy also asked Ty how Spartan was getting along... is he missing her?
Deep down, Amy wondered if Ty would read the question and its hidden meaning. Amy's thoughts drifted to whether Ty was missing her as much as she was missing him. As Amy put on her pajamas and readied herself for sleep, she looked at the horse painting Ty had given her as a gift.
A single tear welled up and ran down Amy's cheek as her heart ached. Amy kneeled down by her bed and softly prayed for strength in her time in Colorado and for her family at Heartland.