Have you ever seen the movie Fried Green Tomatoes? Whenever Kathy Bates wants to do something crazy she screams Towanda! Towanda empowers her and Idgie, the other character she learned it from. Well my scream is gonna be Nowata! haha I am in Nowata, Oklahoma and it's being so good to me. A lot of stuff was really not going as I had hoped. I was having a hard time finding a horse, the RV turned out to not be what I thought, I was having a hard time being healthy, and I was dealing with family stuff. After about 3 anxiety attacks I moved on to Nowata. I met some really generous and kind people. Trent and Mindy Watson and their girls Logan and Murphy. I met Trent through Brandi in Coffeyville. Brandi is a massage therapist and just a sweet funny girl. She helped me find a horse and drove all over the place even on a day when a tornado was coming! It was crazy outside, she drove up to meet me and rolled down the window. She had her baby in the seat next to her and was screaming over thunder "We aren't gonna get hit by a tornado are we?" "I don't think so!" I said "but you know what to do if you see one coming right?" "Yeah! Lay in the ditch!" we yelled at the same time and laughed because we were nervous. We rode the horse in the rain that day which wasn't really fair for the horse because he was so nervous I didn't want him but that was probably just because of the storm. On another day she walked up in sandals with her baby on her hip. "Hold him for a minute" she passed him to a friend, took off her shoes and jumped on a roping horse. She really knows what she's doing. So she asked Trent and he took us to see Bow. He is not the best trained horse we saw but he is the prettiest! To be honest I don't want my horse to stop and turn on a dime, I would probably go flying off. He's great for what I need him to do and he's gonna be a good friend.
Back to Nowata. Trent offered to help train my new horse to get him ready for the ride. He said the horse could even stay at his house with his other horses. Him and Mindy even offered to drive Bow out to Georgia in their big rig just for the gas money. At first I couldn't figure it out! What are they getting out of helping me? I keep asking, are you sure I don't owe you money? They bring my horse with them to the local arena where they have small rodeos and they give me advice in between hauling their steers and riding their own horses. Their daughters are amazing horse people. Logan is 13 and has a broken foot. She's in a cast and refuses to let anyone help her and won't stop riding her horse. She was running barrels in a cast! Murphy is 10 and the fastest barrel racer I have ever seen. Mind you, I haven't seen a lot of barrel racing! But she is graceful and she really flies. I feel like I have been let into this cool little club. I was riding the other day on their land and they needed to round up their steers for a rodeo. I followed them out and actually got to help round them up! It was so fun. I've never actually used a horse for a "job" and it was amazing. I feel so lucky to get to experience these other lives.
I also met Kim and Lon. They are a beautiful couple. They are like surrogate parents. They gave me a jar of home made beef stew for the road. Lon let us borrow a ton of power tools to fix up this run down camper that I bought in a panic off Ebay. They let us use their truck and invited us to their house for bar-b-que. They also offered to donate an equine massage for Bow! Such kind people out here! These are just a few of the strangers who I have met in my short time here and I am so grateful.
Spending this time getting ready and meeting kind and generous people has given me strength. It has allowed this plan I have to move forward. I wouldn't be doing it without all the people who have helped me. People from all over have written me beautiful letters, given donations, given advice, time, energy, and support. All of that support and love I am summoning into the word NOWATA!! hahahaha My Fried Green Tomatoes battle cry! I leave for Georgia in a week!