Noticing the the Details
We all want to discover our natural voice, that part of us that reflects the core of our authenticity. That is what the poetry gathering is about; preserving the voices of rural culture, developing new voices, honoring old ones. It is also about belonging, an elemental longing of humans.
For me the past twenty-eight years have been spent raising kids, which required living in town during the school year. My salvation was my outdoor involvement in the ranch. Riding with the men, having the physical ability to work hard was my connection with the ranch. I took great satisfaction in overcoming the physical challenges that accompanied the work. I didn’t realize how much of my identity was tied to my ability to be one of the hands at the ranch. Much of that has come to an end for me. Now when I ride I look for the shortest, most foolproof horse in the bunch and sometimes feel like my husband and son are protecting me to death. I can’t say I miss the days when I would arrive,gratefully, at the bunch ground on some whinnying lonesome eight-year-old snaffle-bit “colt.” But,I do miss the sense of self-assurance and independance that being sent out on horseback to do a job gave me.
Living in these vast expanses of sky and space in the West it is easy to overlook the little things, to lack appreciation for the more mundane but critical details of ranch life. I kept a sticky note on my computer for a number of years that said, “If you study the details of a culture you will come to understand that culture.” I hope to give voice to some details, bridge some barriers and provoke some discussion along the way.
