Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 59489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
I tried to get the cobwebs out by heading directly to the kitchen and starting the coffee pot. Usually, I had a whole routine that I generally went through, only slightly modified now that I was always alone at home. I would wake up and wander into the restroom, turn on the shower and then head to the kitchen, start the pot and then take my shower. By the time the shower was over, the coffee was ready, and I could start my day at the desk reading the paper.
Today would be different. I plopped down at the kitchen table, pushing my palm into my eye and trying to wake up as the coffee brewed, opening my phone to scroll to my schedule and make sure I had all the times right. Eight a.m. was my first class. Building two. First floor, room 103.
I repeated it under my breath for the millionth time and glanced over to the door to check and make sure I had my things ready. My new backpack, a jacket with my keys and wallet sitting on top of them, and my school planner were sitting out, ready to go. I had prepared that little stack at six in the evening the night before.
Why in the world was I so nervous? I was a grown man, and this was community college. The excitement I understood, but this nervousness was new. I hadn’t felt this way since I’d first started the ranch.
I got my first cup of black coffee in me to start the day and felt the nerves loosen up a little. I knew most people got wound up by the caffeine, but for me, it had the opposite effect. The warm, almost bitter drink grounded me and made me feel calm and collected. After drinking it, I was more focused and ready to do what I needed. A shower only added to that confidence, and by the time I was dressed and grabbing my things by the door, I felt much better about the whole situation.
It was still only six in the morning. The campus was roughly forty minutes away from the ranch, with traffic, and it could take ten or so minutes to find my class from the parking lot. That meant I had an hour to kill. I wanted at least ten or so minutes just to acclimate myself to the surroundings, but an hour was a long time. I needed to do something to pass it.
Heading outside, I threw the backpack in the truck and headed out to the horses. I didn’t want to get all dirty before my first day, but being around them made me feel calmer, and checking in on everyone would be a good way of passing the time.
A couple of workers had taken over the feedings and morning routines at my behest on school days. It had been a major shift for me to not do it all myself, or to do it with a volunteer or someone coming for ranch therapy. I was so used to it that the first thing I did when I walked into the stable was reach for the rake. But when I realized it was missing, it dawned on me that, for today, that wasn’t my job.
I could hear someone raking a stall out a couple down and went to see who it was. A man with a ballcap pulled down almost to his eyebrows was diligently working and looked up to me with a nod. I nodded back, not engaging any further after he returned to his work.
It was one of the biggest things I’d learned about the ranch therapy. A lot of these guys were just so damned used to having a routine, a schedule, that all they wanted was to have something useful to do in the mornings. This particular fellow had a deep scar going up his neck from the collared flannel shirt he wore tight to his chest. I never asked what injuries people had, often because the injuries weren’t physical at all, but his were pretty obvious.
He just wanted to get on with the work. I respected that. Walking on, I moved out to the chicken coop and saw that they had already been taken care of and a fresh crate of eggs was sitting on a bucket, presumably about to go inside the fridge in the stable soon.
I wandered around for a bit, killing time and watching as the sun rose in the east over the trees that lined my property. I had a great life. I needed to keep that in mind. For as much as I wanted to complete this mission of going back to school, for as lonely as I got sometimes being the only one of my friends without a partner, I had to stop at moments like this and realize how lucky I actually was.