She Brought Champagne to the Woods

After I am dead and gone, and someone asks my children what I was like, I want them to say without hesitation:

“She brought champagne to the woods.”

When I had to replace my horse Callisto (we him down due to Severe Navicular Disease) the only real option for me was a Hafflinger. Hafflingers are basically mini draft horses and they’re able to pack some pretty big loads while still being nimble in the mountains.

Which is good, because champagne isn’t exactly light.

Not that cumbersome loads have ever bothered me. I once flew from Virginia to Washington with my mom, holding a 55 pound concrete pig statue in my lap. My mom told everyone on the plane it was her “first grand pig” (no one ever said we were normal).

There’s a reason Matthew calls me the Queen of Shenanigans (or, when he abbreviates it, the Queen of Shenannies). A lot of things don’t weigh me down.

Especially not champagne.

But I don’t just haul it for the bubbles. I haul it because of what it represents.

I didn’t discover champagne until I was in my 30s while shopping at a little boutique some of you locals may remember as Bon Lemon (it’s closed now). Amy Evans, the shoppe’s proprietress, who would eventually become my friend, served champagne any and every chance she got. Amy is one of those unicorns of a human who defies convention on so many levels but also manages to build consensus and community, even in times of turmoil. I often joke with her that she should run for office. Whether or not she ever thinks about this, I don’t know, but as a bad ass boss babe with a heart of gold I think she could shake this world up in a really positive way. When I think about what kind of business owner I want to be, and how I want people to feel when they shop for our product, I think of Amy…and champagne.

Champagne is also a celebration.

When you’ve worked all day on a trail managing horses and kids and pushing your body to new limits, reaching your destination for the night feels like a monumental occasion. Sometimes, the trail in is so stressful Matthew has been known to pop the bottle as soon as we tie the horses up. Other times we’ll savor the experience, tucking the bottle into a mountain stream to cool off, and going about our business of setting up camp with the knowledge that, when we’re done, we’ll celebrate with bubbles.

These times are my favorite—When everyone is bundled up for the night and the only thing you have to do is be present with your people in some of the most beautiful locations on this planet. These are the times when sipping champagne feels extra special. A reminder that no matter how hard something things, we can usually always find something to celebrate.

That’s the outlook I choose to have about my life, anyway.

As a Mortuary Officer in the Air Force I have seen horrific things. As a cadet at the Air Force Academy I have woken up out of a dead sleep, in my own dorm room, to an unknown male sexually assaulting me all because we weren’t allowed to lock our doors. While deployed to Iraq I was isolated and jumped by three would be rapists, hell, let’s just call them rapists because trust me, that’s where they were headed if their Commanding Officer hadn’t stopped them. I have sat next to my father’s dying bedside and my grandmother’s dying bedside and kissed their cheeks as they crossed over to other side. I have watched a marriage that I truly loved burst into flames while holding a one year old baby in my arms. And let’s not even get started talking about the amount of misery that has come with the gift of being a first-generation dairy farmer.

But I am resilient.

Each and every time I survive less than optimum circumstances I am reminded just how strong the human spirit is.

One of the best parts of being human is our ability to truly relish and enjoy delicious and beautiful things. Ridiculously fabulous goat cheese from the milk of our own goats is one of them (hey Lost Peacock), horses in the mountains is another, camping with your family and best friends is kind of the best, and snuggling with my husband and kids with the rain fly off under the stars ranks pretty dang high up there, too.

And of course, of course, of course, who could forget:

Champagne in the woods.

There is beauty in our lives, and I for one, will always seek to find it…with a little bit of bubbles in my belly and a whole lot of hope in my heart.

My cup runneth over.