31 Jan CHAPTER 3 – Kickin’ Up Dust Feature Story – Issue #6
“They found love in the dust of Arizona’s bucking chutes. It grew like wildflowers with Australian roots.” – B.
// CHAPTER III // “Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.” – Some random sign in a New Mexico truck stop.
No quote has ever resonated so bloody true as I contemplate the whirlwind that has been the last few weeks. Where do I even start? So much has happened since our last chapter!
It’s times like this that I wish I journalled. Putting pen to paper preserves the most incredible biographical accounts. Even the normal days can become the most cherished memories.
Let’s start that way; with my first ever diary entry.
Saturday, 30th January 2021 (GMT-07, Mountain Standard Time)
I sit here typing this Chapter in our vintage fifth wheel, overlooking a beautiful horse ranch in Scottsdale, Arizona (USA).
Formidable 15 meter high Saguaro cactus command the horizon; most far exceed 100 years old. These ancient succulents cast silhouettes reminiscent of a Wild West masterpiece across the Arizona sky. Crikey! What a view. Midwest sunsets ignite a fire in my soul.
It’s winter in the Valley. A desert chill fills the air as the sun vanishes behind snow capped mountains. The jovial chirp of native Quail is replaced by the eerie yip of Coyotes. My hairs still stand on end hearing a pack celebrate the spoils of war! It is beautiful yet bloody haunting.
Oscar, our Catahoula x Heeler, is unperturbed, cuddled on my lap. He sneaks under the RV dining table & squishes next to me… My fluffy ‘Work From Home colleague’ has no sense of personal space.
The Cowboy you’ve read so much about is currently flexing his inner-geek watching ‘The Mandalorian’ on a well-loved sofa adorned with an exquisite cowhide. That slice of man-pie is as ‘delish’ as the first day I saw him at a bull riding in 2017.
This right here, now. WOW! I’m bloody grateful for this simple moment. It’s so unrehearsed, real & f@$^& amazing!
My wallet is empty but my heart is full.
‘Twas a year full of challenge after motherbloody challenge. An infuriating series of comedic curve balls & ransacked attempts to process my US Green Card. I dub thee “COVID-chaos”!
I was even detained in a Police Hotel in Sydney whilst attending the (first) Immigration Interview. Yup! Bathtub in the middle of the room, three course meals, room service & even a security detail. Five-star prison. Get that in ya’ pickle!
I can giggle about it now but, combined with closed borders & 6 months of lock down in Melbourne & having $7000 stolen off our card by someone booking flights in Dubai, I’m fairly certain that every cuss word in the English Language has been applied in the most creative ways imaginable. Heck, I started speaking swear words in Latin just for some variety!
One year, one month & 22 days on an emotional roller-coaster.
Not a normal roller-coaster either. It’s the kind that darts around a corner at a million miles an hour, then drops down a 90 degree fall so fast that your stomach feels like it’s trying to escape out your eyeballs… that kind of ride!
Maniacal laughter. Tears. Confusion. Despair. Damn hard work. Research. 400 pages of documentation. A truck load of support & SO MUCH LOVE! But here we are. We made it, y’all!
The feeling of holding my human after 419 days is indescribable. Nothing comes close.
The moment I threw my arms around Kyle in Sky Harbor Airport I felt like Atlas & the entire world I’d been carrying for the last year was lifted off my shoulders.
Those ‘difficult roads’ sure did lead to the most amazing destination; Home. (In the form of an American Cowboy!)
But let it be known that this is real life. Aside from the romantic novel where I’ve been swept off my boots & spoiled with roses, opals & rodeos… We’re rollin’ like Lane Frost in a Ranch Wagon.
Thus, my first day here the toilet was ‘cactus!’ It was so broken that we had to drive to the servo any time we needed to go. One day, Kyle got fed-up waiting for the Tradie, scrubbed up a DIY Hazmat Suit & looking like something from Area 51 about to battle Alien Invasion, he embarked into the literal sh*tshow. We’re talking months of cowboy-crap all up in that bad boy. It was rank! Through all the laugh-crying, dry-retching & speckles of dung-glitter, he miraculously fixed the porcelain throne!
The moral to this story? Real life isn’t all sunshine & rainbows. It’s not all highs. It’s also those hilarious lows fixing the crapper together that create a lifetime of memories. Appreciate the ‘sh*t’ out of those moments. (Puntastic!)
TRUE STORY // by B. @agirlcalledB
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