Boots & Bells

by

Ray Wolfram

We’re taking care of a few vital things here.

One’s heart. One’s soul. Ones feet.?

Boots

The season is a place. A place in time. A place in our hearts. A place to come together with friends, family and pups. It was once my first season. A season of discovery. Countless seasons honing a craft. Seasons of triumph. Season of humility. It will all at once and much to abruptly, someday be my last. It was once the pups first season. His season of bliss & wonder. The season where he honed his craft. It will all at once be his heart-breaking last. Maybe he’ll forge through that season on weary old legs, carried more by courage than strength. Maybe I’ll carry him in, settling on that river bank we’ve scoured so many times. Maybe we won’t know it was his last until after it is gone. Even then, we’ll carry him with us into the next. 

The feet, trusted to take us through the season, through a course in the uplands, where our hearts and our souls collide with that which gives our lives shape and meaning. We spend three seasons of our lives dreaming, hoping, and longing to return to this remote season of splendor and wilderness, this graceful season of beauty & bounty.   

Boots for blazing. Stout soles and a rich, oiled leather with brass grommets and thick, stiff laces. When we lace up our boots the blood is stoked with a fusion of emotions – soothing, excited, stirring. The pup will come to sense this. The pup will even come to identify which boots hold promise of his heart’s desire. The company we share with our feet in these boots, struggling to do everything right. When you course the uplands with a pup that you love, it turns into something completely different.

His heart & soul knows those boots. 

So there it is…….

One must take care of their feet. Boots for the journey.

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Bells

Bells of grace. Bells for the soul. A genuine Swiss 6/0, folded, hammered and soldered in a crude, yet adequate manner - producing a deep, rich, resonant tone. The bell fosters a link between souls – that of my pup and that soul which is mine. It binds us together in the uplands. With it, I keep a pulse on my partners course. Its pace hints of the distinction between a meandering loaf and a purposeful search. It’s silence brings, well, a Bell of silence. A point, perhaps? A bird? Silent Bells - Bells of intensity.

Placement of the bell is more important than what appears on the surface. A Swiss bell, with its one inch wide crown, slides tightly up a 1 inch leather collar. One can position it to the side of the neck, on a snug collar, ensuring it is not slapping pup on his jowls. This also greatly reduces the likelihood that the Bell will fill with snow, which of course, would render it useless. Bells of wonder.

Bells of youth. Bells of vigor. Some place we’ve never been. Some place we’ve been a hundred times before. Bells of hope!

Left the house this morning, sweet sound of Rizon’s bell fills the air. Out on the edge of darkness. Brilliant aspen fills the sky. On wheels of fire she comes blowing by. Bells a ringing. Bells of chaos.

May the upland journey be filled with many Bells of promise. Bells of laughter. The Bells show us the way when we are lost. Lost in the uplands. Lost in life. Bells of guidance.

Bells should bring a feeling of gospel transformation. Bells of passion. The bell should retire with the pup – for all seasons come to an end. Bells of heartache, as we hang that collar up for the last time. Bells of mercy.

Bells that fill my heart with joy. Bells that sooth my soul.

My heart & soul knows those bells.

So there it is…….

One must take care and embrace each bell in our own brief upland passage. Bells of the journey.