The leaves are yellow, the Virginia Creeper is all red and gold, and the air is cold with a fall breeze blowing. Saddling up, my horse is as ready as I am to get out and ride. It’s hard to kick up your heels when the sun is bearing down on you and the hot wind steals any moisture from your nose and mouth leaving you wishing for winter snows.

But not this day. I mounted and we rode off to see what the morning might bring. The dry corn stalks crackled, broad leaves crunching under compact hooves. Fall has that smell that I love but find very difficult to describe, all dry and earth with just a hint of winter.

We soon fell back into a familiar rhythm, his buckskin neck soft under my fingers and his black mane keeping time with the wind. Once-in-a-while, he whinnied back to the friends we left behind, and I urged him on telling him we’d see them again soon.

Passing by a blunt-nosed baby snake sunning in the warm gravel, we moved together into the west winds that blew in the promise of the coming winter.

If you enjoyed this, you’ll enjoy this: An Alliance of Stars