optimist's anthem

Can’t seem to stop thinking of the little colt I met this past weekend – depending on your age, you may remember the song which is running through my head:

Oh, I’m bein’ followed by a moonshadow, moonshadow, moonshadow
Leapin’ and hoppin’ on a moonshadow, moonshadow, moonshadow

And if I ever lose my hands, lose my plough, lose my land,
Oh if I ever lose my hands, oh if.... I won’t have to work no more.
And if I ever lose my eyes, if my colours all run dry,
Yes if I ever lose my eyes, oh if.... I won’t have to cry no more.

And if I ever lose my legs, I won’t moan, and I won’t beg,
Yes if I ever lose my legs, oh if.... I won’t have to walk no more.
And if I ever lose my mouth, all my teeth, north and south,
Yes if I ever lose my mouth, oh if.... I won’t have to talk...

Did it take long to find me? I asked the faithful light.
Did it take long to find me? And are you gonna stay the night?

-- Cat Stevens, 1970

From the website Song Facts:

"Stevens wrote this about finding hope in any situation. Be present and joyful. See life as it is, right now, and don't compare it to others' lives, or other times in your life. Every moment in life is rich and unique; whether we are aware of it or not, we are always leaping and hopping on a moonshadow - the inescapable present moment. If we are wrapped up in our whirlpools of worry and concern about what could be, or what has been, we are missing the richness of life as it is.

Stevens has in recent years called this song the 'Optimist's Anthem.'"

A wonderful name – I liked it very much – quite poetic I thought, but it was not until I saw the picture I had taken above that I suddenly understood why he was named “Moonshadow” – he is the first baby horse I’ve personally met, my first colt. One month old, he embodied pure innocence and sweetness and they practically had to drag me from his stall at the end of our riding retreat at Sam Morrison’s Welcome Home Farm in Greene, Maine this past weekend.