I just listened to the 3 voice mail messages I have saved from my neighbor, Esther. Tonight, I am reminiscing, and I am so glad we had Esther over this year for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. I invited another friend of ours, too, a single fella, friend of ours who also would have been alone. What a grand time we had! Lots of laughs to go around, and Esther at the center of it all because she was second-to-none when it came to storytelling. You see, Esther was my best friend, my close, close galfriend and we could talk about anything! Especially if anything was cows, ranching and horses and dogs. Esther was born over 91 years ago out on the plains west of Laramie, WY. She endured hardships unspeakable. And, she had a knack for breaking horses. Folks around Elko County, NV (where Esther and her husband Mack ranched for many years...first near Tuscarora and then near Jiggs) sometimes remember how Esther and Mack once received a railroad-car load of unbroke horses, and how Esther drove those horses back to the ranch, I believe some 60 miles away! Esther broke the lions share of those horses to ride and then they sold the animals to help keep the ranch afloat. She is and always will be my hero. This winter, it became too difficult and dangerous for Esther to go out and get the mail in her mailbox, so Pete or I would step over our boundary fence each day and take the little path through the pines to collect her mail and take it in to her. It was a good and quick way to check in every day and say hello. Esther was very hard of hearing, so when I opened the door and yelled out, Yoo hoo! in a high-pitched tone, she would call out to me from her little upholstered chair in her den: Come into my parlor said the spider to the fly! When it came time for me to leave, she would always sing out, Take your time leavin but hurry back! Its only been a few days but Lord, how I miss her! Esther left this earth a few days ago. She said she was ready to go.She was bone-tired in a way only ranchfolks understand. She planted 90 tulip bulbs in the ground, all by herself, just a few months ago. There will be plenty around here to remind of this tiny, 87 lb cowboy-girl who became one of the best friends I have ever known.
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 06:00:08 +0000
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