This post isn't much, but just some words that popped into my head the other night.
Under an inky black and blue night sky, I sat rocking in a wooden chair on the front porch of the ranch with a drink in hand.
I was exhausted. Eight hours of trail clearing with hand saws and a hatchet had left way too many areas of my upper body sore. My knees were stiff from miles spent rocking over uneven mountain terrain in a saddle. Pine sap still clung to my skin in dried, grey blotches despite vigorous scrubbing. And a solid lump had formed on the front of my left thigh covered in a motley-blue bruise from a branch-snapping gone wrong. But with everyone off the ranch for the evening, the peace and quiet of a Wyoming night was the only remedy I could ask for. The night sky was kind of enough to put on a show by sending a comet that broke into multiple shimmering pieces streaking across the sky.
It was pushing ten o'clock at night, and I had a very strong notion to drag myself to my cabin where a comfy bed was waiting -- but this was too perfect to miss. A year ago, a man who spent a large chunk of his nights playing guitar alone in a chapel said this to me: "The average person sleeps eight hours a day, right? That's a third of their day. That means over an entire lifetime, they spend a third of their life asleep. I'm just not comfortable with sleeping away a third of my life." I've really tried to hold onto that since hearing those words. It's a simple thing, and something that might be viewed as a little extreme as a good amount of sleep each night is essential for a healthy lifestyle. But moments like the other night are when it makes sense. Despite being banged up and bloody exhausted, I was totally content. After a day spent hard at work, that moment of peacefulness under a beautiful night sky was my reward and there was no way I was going to miss out on it.