Found Somewhere

FOUND SOMEWHERE

Terry woke suddenly. He didn’t know why but nevertheless he was wide awake. He sat up in the darkness of his Tack Room Hotel, wondering where he was. As he adjusted to the faint light from the window, he realized it was morning but much earlier than usual. A faint glow was barely discernible in the eastern sky.

Not wanting to sleep any more he dressed and slipped into the runway of the barn. A low nicker greeted him from Buck. Terry went into the stall, running his hand along Buck’s neck and withers. It was friend with friend that greeted him this early March morning. Terry began to think of having come to Somewhere a little less than a year ago. He had truly been trying to get lost but what happened in this year was mind boggling. Nothing had turned out the way he had thought it should. He was no longer running away from Cleveland. He had found a family and friends that he treasured more than anyone he had ever known. His Mom had somehow come here too, and they enjoyed a friendship that never would have happened in the big city. The big question on Terry’s mind was, WHY? How could all these experiences and life changing events have happened without some kind of purpose and direction to living? He saddled the horse, led him out of the barn and mounted. They rode silently out of the yard toward the pasture and away from the ranch house. As Terry rode into the morning he began to think again of why? Or maybe it was more important to ask how? How do life experiences take us where we go and for some it never seems to satisfy. For him life was much more satisfying than ever before. Nothing could measure the good changes in his life and what they meant.

Terry chuckled and said out loud, “This is just a little too much to think about for such a beautiful morning.” He let out a shout that no one heard since he was far down into the pasture. Buck sensed the excitement and galloped toward the far end of the fence line. As they neared the end of the pasture, they could see the small herd of Jess’s cattle quietly munching the new grass. Contentment just seemed to enfold the whole world.
After having checked the cattle for any problem, Terry rode along the fence line to the north. Coming to the corner and turning back toward the house he saw the gate. He had not seen it before, but it beckoned to him. Terry dismounted and opened the gate that went over into the Bar J. Leading Buck through and closing the gate securely, he felt a thrill of adventure. He was on land he had never ridden in before. It was surprising to feel a little like a trespasser, but he had no intention of doing anything to hurt Harry. Harry Linderman was a friend and trusted neighbor. Terry would take only his thoughts and leave only footprints in this unusual spring morning. The snow was still deep in the shaded aspen breaks and the small ravines. Wild flowers were beginning to sing their songs of joy as they spread color and beauty across the meadows. Nothing moved, that is until he was nearly jolted from the saddle. Buck shied to one side as a mule deer bolted from the thicket. Catching the saddle horn saved Terry from landing in the bushes and he laughed out loud, patting Buck on the neck to calm him and rode on.

Rounding the edge of the mountain the sun broke over the ridge and flooded the valley with spectacular brilliance. He stopped and just took in the scene around him. Birds flitted from bush to bush. A field mouse ran under a rock and he saw deer in the meadow on the far side of the valley. Then he noticed something he didn’t expect . It looked like a house falling down in decay.


Terry rode toward the house and it came into view more completely as he rounded a small bunch of spruce trees in the middle of the valley. The house had a majestic appearance in spite of part of the walls and roof having collapsed and other walls hanging on by a thread. Stopping a short way from the yard, Terry wondered who had built such a magnificent house in such a hidden place. Who ever it was had big ideas about the future that must not have gone the way they dreamed. The house seemed to call Terry closer and he rode into what must have been the front yard, surrounded by a pole fence that too, had long ago begun to collapsed under the weight of snow and time. Terry slid off Buck and walked around the house.

This could be a story of someone’s life, Terry thought. The dream was magnificent and the location spectacular, but time and circumstances had somehow ruined the expectations and now the dream had become a nightmare. Or maybe it is just the way life is. Once we are building for the future expecting a great, marvelous adventure, but somehow everything changes and the things we set out to conquer just loose their edge and the dream collapses as this magnificent house had.

Terry thought about his own life. He didn't have magnificent goals. He had run away, trying to get lost and abandon all of life as he had known it. With that emotion and lack of direction that he found more than he had ever hoped to know about contentment and purpose. Here at this lonely, decaying mansion, Terry again felt freedom from the fear and the anger he had harbored so long. He knew that his former dreams and expectations would have never built a magnificent house of his life, but the direction of his life had changed dramatically in Somewhere This house inspired him to think about building a dream and to see it become a monument to the transformation he had realized in coming to know and embrace all God had lead him into. It was then that he began to think again of how much Jess and Molly had played a part in his growing into a man that was filled with integrity and purpose. Being thrust into having to care for the ranch when Jess was on the edge of death and discovering Sarah in a different way surprised him. He let out a shout so loud that it echoed off the hills. As quiet settled on him, he turned and caught Buck, mounted and rode toward the only real home he had ever known. Terry felt quiet satisfaction and a thrill of discovery. Nothing surprised him more than the draw to get back to Jess and Molly and especially to see Sarah. He rode silently toward the pasture gate, letting all he had seen and experienced begin to build a vision he had never known before.