There's a certain quiet among these mighty trees that sends
a slight shiver down my spine. For all I know you can get lost and end up
forgotten and alone on the other end of the country, that enormously huge is how
these forrests are. There seems to be no end to the trails, sometimes the lack
thereof... I don't think I have ever in my life seen this many living things
together.
Belgium, compared to Poland, is cold and distant. A rush of time, a lack of
space and the rule of artificial things and fabrics. Belgium has no heartbeat,
and it kills the living in it. No wonder most of us are carefully regulated
zombies of society. Poland's still a friendly place, and as much "Maņana"
as Spain, only with a softer attitude and no sharp edges.
I spent one short week on a farm that seemed to have been standing still in time
an eternity ago, I could have stayed forever. It was the one moment in my life I
didn't miss my computer, phone, mp3 player, tv.. Horses and dogs, and an
unbelievably beautiful twist of nature was really the only important thing.
We stayed with Kajtek and Eva. Kajtek is a man with a friendly heart and an (in
my eyes) very peculiar sense of humour. I still don't know if I can fully
apprectiate it. I haven't heard him complain once and I can hardly think of any
place I have been better taken care of during a holiday. Eva is the most
wonderful cook who can turn a simple dish into a royal meal and even the things
I hate at home could easily become my favourite when Eva is queen of the
kitchen. Though she hardly speaks anything else then Polish, she's a warm person
with a heart of gold and I believe she has much compassion for her fellow man
(woman).
I called my horse "Patatje", which is Flemish for small potatoe. She
was by far the most tender and loving horse I ever knew. She seemed to have a
sense of knowing what was wrong with me. Truth or my imagination, either way I
felt a strange sort of comfort whenever I was sad or angry. She seemed to know
what the people around me hardly did. There were times I was obviously crying or
irritated but then again, there have been many more moments I was suffering
quietly and my Patatje seemed to understand, every single time.
She took me up and down hill, through water and branches, to places I never
thought I'd ever be lucky enough to see, and always got me "home"
safely. I have done things in Poland I had never done before and which I thought
would take me a lot more time before I would even think about it. I never went
faster, I've never seen steeper hills and honestly, there were times I seriously
doubted my abillity to safely get through them. Though it wasn't as much a
matter of danger as it was one of trust, in myself and my Patatje. Without her,
I might have said no. Without her, I might have even panicked. I trust her like
I have rarely trusted anything or anone before, not mainly because she's a very
quiet and good horse, but most of all because she seemed to radiate a sort of
love and guidance. I think it was almost.. motherly? She's 20, as old as I am,
but so much wiser.
I cried oceans when we had to leave. If I could, I would stay forever.
I have floated through trees, sometimes barely avoiding knocking my knee against
one. I have been riding in a place that lives and grows, and that is so much
greater then anything humans ever forged.
We have galloped on the breath of the world....
AmA