Peacocks... and Other Wrecks

I have always LOVED peacocks. I love driving up at someone’s ranch headquarters with huge trees around their house and barn, seeing (and hearing) peacocks in the trees announcing your arrival.

But no matter how beautiful a thing is....in it’s wrong place or time....it can be a painful thing. My painful peacock story happened during a season when I was breezing horses on someone’s personal track. They owned a barn full of young race horses that I was hired to exercise daily. They also owned several dogs, cats, chickens, turkeys and... peacocks...that freely roamed the place. I loved all the critters and the atmosphere they each add to an environment.

As you may already know, young race colts aren’t usually the most well broke animals. It was a daily thing to ride through the knots in their back and the usual “pitching” that had to be worked out before actually expecting a good breeze around the track. One of the fillies was especially flighty and she was also BIG, but other than darting one way or the other as she dodged her imagined boogers, she was no trouble and she could stretch out and run! One such day I was enjoying her stride as we were at a full gallop and rounding the corner at one end of the track. All I actually remember, was seeing a peacock streak across the track in front of us and the filly’s head disappearing. She went from a stretched out run to swallowing her head and trying to elevate herself to rooftop level, while hitting reverse. I just remember seeing her ears from an airborne position, prior to kissing the ground face first. I don’t know how long I was knocked out because no one was there to see what happened. But when I DID come to, I found the filly peacefully grazing in the center area of the track. Whether I was out minutes or hours, I have no idea but my bell had been rung royally, because after catching the mare and leading her back to the barn I discovered that I had NO MEMORY of which horses I had already ridden and which horses I hadn’t. No horses were even still warm from their workout. With a bit of a headache, I decided it might be best to just let it go....no more riding that day.

Have you ever made note of how sometimes something “beautiful” that you’ve always wanted in life can show up at the wrong time? Or in the wrong package? A person shows up in your life that’s EXACTLY what your heart has been searching for all your life....but they’re married. Or the job you’ve dreamed of having appears, but you have to be LESS than honorable to shift from the job you’re at to get this one. Just like a peacock...it doesn’t matter how BEAUTIFUL it is...if it shows up at the wrong place or time and you engage it...it will very well end in a massive WRECK. ANYTHING YOU COMPROMISE TO GET, YOU MUST CONTINUE COMPROMISING TO KEEP. Or Biblically speaking, “everything produces after it’s own kind”. No matter how “beautiful” something is, if you attain it “illegally”, by that I mean. being less than honorable, it will eventually come back around to bite you in the butt. No matter how beautiful it is...if it’s coming to you “sideways” (like that peacock) it’s a TRAP....DON’T BITE! You may “fly high” for a time, but you’ll eventually come down. And I don’t need to tell you how painful it can be when the reality of ground level hits home.