Llamas, Horses, and more Llamas

            Okay, so this incident actually occurred a while back, but it is a story worth telling(I think) and if I don't write it down now I'll probably forget most of it. It was the summer of 2010 near the end of June, I believe, and I was at a western camp in Colorado. I was on a five day horseback riding trip where we had five campers, four leaders, and eleven horses. It was our second day riding, Tuesday, and it was mid to late morning. All of us were thrilled to be on this trip and we all were becoming close friends very quickly. (If you want to know anything particular about this trip or camp just comment because this is only one adventure out of many) We still had lots of energy despite having all the thrills of being out in the wilderness already for over a day.
            The incident begun when we were riding on a trail that made single file our only option. I still remember how beautiful that morning was with the birds singing and the wind whispering through the leaves of the willowy green trees and the sunlight streaming down on us through the branches overhead. With the sun on our faces and the slight breeze keeping us cool and awake and with some of our new best friends to talk to we all were in a wonderful mood. There was a clearing up ahead and with the first couple people in front of the whole group, including a couple of the leaders(a wrangler and a counselor), we were alerted that there were elk grazing in the lush green field far in the distance. All of us were anxious to see more wildlife and so we all were craning our necks until the fields lay to our right and we all had a view.
            You think we'd be disappointed when we discovered that there were no elk. But in reality, there was a herd of colorful llamas. Once everyone was in view we stopped, amazed at our discovery. Almost in shock we watched as the herd of between twenty and thirty llamas ran/galloped/flew towards us. The llamas were every color combination you would imagine a llama could have: from completely brown or white to a calico coloring or splotches of color on their white fur. There was even one llama that we later decided to call "the butterfly llama" because as it ran toward us it almost looked like it had wings because its fur was so long it bounced gracefully up and down, appearing as if it had wings on either side of its body.
            So by now you're probably wondering why we weren't worried the slightest about a huge herd of llamas sprinting toward us and our horses. Well, you see, there was a regular sized wire fence(I forgot if it was barbed wire or not) that ran alongside the field and the trail so we concluded that the llamas couldn't reach us.(actually I was a bit disappointed about that fact at the moment) And we understood that the llamas must be on a llama farm because there obviously wouldn't be a herd of llamas that huge running around in the wilderness of Colorado.
            I believe it probably took about thirty seconds for the llamas to reach us, but in some other reality it could've been ten seconds or five minutes. As the llamas neared us they slowed down and that was when I first realized something was amiss. I can describe the next scene that took only a matter of seconds to take place in many words, but I will come back to the main event when I actually figured out what had taken place with most of us unaware at the precise moment.
           The only way I can describe how the llamas moved in toward us was "territorially". The llamas obviously did not like us so near their land, and our horses showed that they obviously did not like the llamas. Before I move on to how we all reacted when the llamas were mere yards from the fence, I will ask you a question you can take as rhetorical or answer honestly: Did you know that horses are terrified of llamas? Because I didn't.
          The moment the llamas came too close their was mass chaos. All of our horses freaked out at the same exact moment and the only way we could keep them from running away or throwing any of us off their backs was to turn them in circles just like our leaders had taught us. Within half a minute we had them back in our control with our leaders making sure everyone was alright and not hurt. Two of our leaders in front were already off their horses and we had to follow suit because our horses would not walk a foot forward with the llamas staring them down. Once I slipped of my own horse, Justin, a pretty chestnut colored midsize horse, I began walking as far away from the llamas as the trail and bluff to the left of us would allow. Jessie, the camp wrangler, told us to speak to our horses and try to calm them down as we walked away from the territorial llamas.
         Calming down Justin was not a difficult nor long task for me. I had him completely calm far sooner than most of the other girls had their horses calmed down.(I have to have this one triumph in being good with animals because otherwise my twin sister will beat me entirely, once again, in something) We reached a clearing in the trees to our right about three-hundred yards away(I'm inferring) where we proceeded to tie our horses to trees and sit down on some boulders. Jessie made sure we were all calming down and safe with no injuries or problems as we recollected the experience that just took place. We then were told a story that made our eyes pop even more as Jessie went back to retrieve one of our two pack horses that was tied to a tree right by where the llamas had scared our horses.
            Hannah, one of the counselors at the camp, was very nice, fun, hilarious, and somewhat eccentric. We all loved her and she really brought our group together with her optimistic attitude. Hannah was in the front of the group riding her somewhat stubborn horse, Pete, the tallest horse at the camp, and also leading one of our pack horses(well ponies kind of...). She was nearest to the llamas when they came near, and when all of our horses freaked the horse she was riding wanted to go one way while the pack horse she was holding the leading rope to another way. Hannah had a split second decision to make when the chaos erupted: to let go of the rope to the pack horse allowing her to stay on Pete but possibly let the pack horse run away or to jump off Pete(remember, this extremely tall horse) and hold on the the rope keeping the pack horse from running away. She made the hard but right choice, jump off her horse(literally jump, yes) and then tie the pack horse to the nearest tree. She came with the rest of us to the clearing after tying up the horse and Jessie, the head wrangler, went back afterward to retrieve the horse that carried much of our food and supplies.
            When Jessie had only been gone for a few minutes we heard her yell, "She's coming!". Utterly confused we watched as this small horse holding pounds and pounds of supplies gallop all the way up to the entrance of the clearing and (ever so thankfully) turn when she saw our whole group waiting. She stopped in the middle of the clearing, with the wild look in her eyes slowly fading, breathing deeply; obviously utterly terrified of the llamas. Jessie came running down the path starting to jog when she saw that the terrified pack horse had stopped and not abandoned our group by running away past the clearing. Jessie tied up that pack horse and that was the end of it.
           No more than five minutes later we were back on our horses riding the trail again, still in amazement at what had just completely occurred in less than ten minutes time.

Since then I've never thought of llamas the same way again... :)

Life

            I begin this blog with a love for writing. (No matter how terrible I may be or seem at it.) But I most importantly begin this blog with a love for life, for friends, for family, and for making the most out of every moment and looking back at every fond memory I already have. And when I'm remembering all these things I'm either laughing out loud, crying with tears streaking down my face, or just sitting(or standing, or rolling, etc. ;) ) and thinking how fortunate I've been to have had these experiences, these opportunities, these friends, and how glad I am to have the memories I can look back on to remind me of everything worth living for so far.
            I start writing now so I can try to record the innumerable hilarious, outrageous, or just plain "Wow, I can't believe that just happened" moments that I experience every week in my not as normal as I used to think life. So many of these moments have already been long forgotten by my family, friends, strangers, or myself and I really want to have a fun, memorable way of recording them and sharing them with others. Some of the things *ahem* many of these experiences I am talking about are embarrassing, strange, out of the ordinary, inside jokes only some people would get but I am willing to share the ones I believe are worth mentioning if you are going to take the time to read them.
            Life isn't just about the ups or the downs: you need the ups and downs to really make the ride worthwhile. I mean without the hills in the roller coaster you wouldn't have the exhilarating feelings or the whole experience. Opposites make joy, happiness, excitement, love, kindness, compassion (etc.) all possible and all the more sweeter when they come rolling along in life. I won't only be sharing the good surprises in my life but also some of the bad, disappointing surprises that really make the happy moments all the more enjoyable and memorable.

*Lemons are Sour and Sweet. And so is Life. :)*