In perspective 

There are about 100 horses on a few hundred acres at our barn, bordered by a few thousand acres of city/public owned land. The horses are owned by individuals; stalls and/or pasture space are leased by barn management and riding is permitted on the miles and miles of acreage as described. You may have noticed this as you fly back into Newport News or when driving by. 

Twenty of those wonderful animals live about 100 yards from the barns in pasture-board, which means they do not have stalls, but do have a large shelter for extreme weather. Many of us choose to keep our horses in this more natural environment where they can graze and meander about whenever they wish 24 hours a day. These animals do not have the convenience of being fed daily by the barn management. So, obviously we owners do the daily feeding often, with alternating days by other owners. To keep all the necessary gear, hay and feed we need, we have sheds or tack boxes. OK, that’s the background. 

At 6 a.m. the day after Christmas I got a call from the barn. “Come quick  —  your shed is on fire! The fire department is on the way!” I usually go between 6:30 and 7:00 so I was almost ready and left immediately. What I found was the picture you see with this column. I’ve been at this barn for more than 30 years and accumulated a considerable amount of horse-related gear…saddles, bridles, blankets, tools, clothes, memorabilia. I lost everything. 

As I stood there, looking at that shell of my shed, feeling kind of crushed, I thought: There’s a family right now, standing in their pajamas while neighbors bring coats, looking at their home with everything they’ve accumulated in a lifetime, hopefully not with pets left inside, lost. I’m not suggesting that buoyed me into joy but it definitely put my tragedy into perspective. 

I’m writing this a month later and every day I go to the barn someone offers me spare gear, help if I need it, condolences. Cards have been left on my temporary locker. 

Please understand with 100 horses individually owned, I don’t even know some of these well-meaning, warm-hearted folks. But I sure appreciate each of them. 

I’ve replaced all I need to get started riding (and accumulating) again. This experience has been a reminder of something I’ve written about in my column theoretically. Experience makes it more relevant though. Change, whether planned or thrust upon us in a full life, always has a 50/50 chance of being an improvement. It may not feel like that at first but patience and time often prove it to be true. I lost stuff. Meaningful stuff but just stuff. I gained a reminder of how nice and supportive so many people are. 

Are there still angry, grumbling, even evil people out there? Of course. But there are so many more who are kind and friendly and willing to help those who can use it. 

If your recent experiences don’t line up to agree with that, I get it. Often mine haven’t either. Life is like that. Be patient, find some encouragement in my little story and know those folks are there. Better yet, make sure you’re one. 

Agree? Disagree? Brian Cole welcomes your viewpoints on his columns. He is a regional, national and international award-winning columnist. He welcomes your viewpoints by email at Brian5995999@msn.com.