Kopler's Adventure

This is a short story I wrote a few days ago... I was in the mood for writing. It's not so much an action-packed story (not at all action-packed, really); I was trying to describe nature and the environment and provoke an emotional response from people that way. Read this if you want to/have the time :)
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It was rare that Kopler would go out on such a chilly morning. The sun was barely caressing the frosty ground, making every ice crystal glimmer playfully. There was snow on some of the trees, yet it had frozen so deeply that it would take much more of that precious sunlight to give the snow back its puffy nature. A light mist was wallowing close to the grass. The only sound coming from afar was the faint whizzing of gusts of wind.

Kopler kept walking, his hooves crushing the ice beneath him. He had a determined walk, slow but steady. The crisp air made his breathing hard and there was frost over the fine whiskers on his muzzle. His flaxen mane, always soft and shiny, was now stiffer than usual because it was covered by a thin layer of cold snow and ice. His chestnut body glittered in the sun.

Most horses would have given up on that journey long before; but Kopler did not. He was not bothered by the frost or the chill. Contrary to what others would think, the Haflinger was happy to be there, on that lonely streak of land. As he strode on, he observed the scarce pine trees which had made this remote ridge their home.

Suddenly, he stopped. His ears were alert and he was sniffing the air. Something else was out there with him. It was odd, Kopler thought, that any other creature he knew would follow uphill, so he decided he best stay on guard, prepared to face an enemy, perhaps. He heard a rustling sound coming from one of the pines. Quickly, he turned his eyes to the tree only to see a cheerful squirrel jump from branch to branch. He was not the only one on that ridge after all. The horse took a deep breath of relief and was glad that his senses were mistaken that time.

He continued walking, evidently with great effort; he got to a much steeper part of the ridge. Every now and then he would glance behind his shoulder. In the distance, far away, he could see a small, green spot which was the valley he came from. He was the leader of a group of Haflingers who lived up in the mountains of South Tyrol. His herd was the most famous one in the area. It was his herd that had been formed generations ago by four of the wisest horses and mares that ever roamed this land. Back then, the mountains were the home of thousands of free horses; at present, wild horses are no longer common. Kopler’s friends and family constituted the largest group of wild horses left in Tyrol. They had survived because they learned to endure harsh conditions and to escape from the taming clutches of man.

Kopler looked up the hill and stronger rays of sunlight blinded him. He closed his eyes and no longer saw the rays of light; yet he felt them, gently touching his sensitive skin, melting the frost from his mane and nose. The air felt warmer by the minute. As if he had absorbed energy from the sun, the Haflinger paced up into a vigorous gallop. Droplets of water now glistened on his chestnut body; his coat shone brightly; his mane and tail glided in the air. The rhythmic thumping of his hooves echoed in the hollows.

What kept him going was not the sun; it was what soon laid out in front of him. He had reached the end of his journey, and also the end of the ridge. Below him were daunting cliffs with sharp edges and creepy caves carved into them… and beyond the cliffs, was a magnificent view.

Basking in the early sunlight in the distance were the distant peaks of the Alps. Like guards surrounding a treasure, they stood aloft, looking down on a peaceful valley where pine trees grew tall and the grass was greener than ever. As though it was created by the hand of an artist, amidst the trees there was a turquoise lake. The trees, the mountains, the sky, and the orange sun were all imprinted on the lake’s surface. With water clear as the air itself, the lake was one of the most beautiful sights Kopler had ever seen.

Kopler was the oldest and wisest of all horses in his heard. He had been a leader for many years and he only brought joy and bliss to his fellow Haflingers. They respected and admired him. His courage, stamina, and wit were unsurpassed. Kopler had left a mark in everyone’s hearts.

He looked at the breathtaking view once more, then smiled. Kopler remembered that his grandfather had gone to see the lake and never came back; his father took over the heard. The same happened with Kopler and his own father…

He felt thirsty and knew there was one place where he could quench his thirst… and he leapt towards the magical lake…

He had known all along this was the last time he would be looking at the sunrise.

Back to Richmond!!!

Hi everyone! I'm back at Richmond, hooray! I came here early to help out for student orientation with a whole bunch of other people :D It's gonna be a busy week, but right before things get really busy, here's a short blog entry with some photos that I took on my first day at Uni. Ah, Red House... Always nostalgic about it... I moved to Montford House now...

Richmond through the trees.

Richmond through some flowers.

Our dear library.

The two school vans, the two big pine trees, and our main building.

One of the 'dark paths' on campus ;)

Again, Richmond through the trees... Can you already tell I was looking for weird spots for picture taking?

I just liked the orange light hitting the pine tree.

Part of our library behind a green curtain.

Where bush and chimney coincide... :)

And our beautiful Richmond sunset, as seen from Montford house.

Last Night in Sofia

1:19 a.m.

It's my last night in Sofia before I fly off to London tomorrow at 2 p.m.

I spent today with my family. We had a tasty lunch with Mom, Dad, and my two grandfathers. My Mom's father came to Sofia from his village just to say bye to me. After lunch and all the goodbye's, I felt so tired that I went straight to bed. I slept like a rock. I hadn't had too much sleep in the past few days, though I'm happy I did all I managed to do while avoiding sleep. Two hours worth of napping hit the spot. I was up and running again, walking my beloved pooch. In the evening, Mom came to help me pack a bit. I had prepared all my clothes in advance (which was a miracle in itself - no procrastination!) and we only had to stuff it all in the suitcase... We did, and the suitcase is about 5 kilos overweight. I also have a smaller bag for cabin luggage and a handbag. Aside from that little load, I have a few HUGE bags of stuff I left back in the UK last year... And now I need to take all those back... Gulp. I doubt there'll be enough space in my room... Oh well.

To fight the post-packing trauma (haha), I decided to watch a movie. In this case, I chose 'Eight Below' which is a sad movie about sledding dogs. Yes, I cried... yes, I can't stop thinking about those dogs... and yes, I went and cuddled with Rex for a while after the movie ended.

It was an emotional night. I'm just about ready to call it a night and go to bed. I have to wake up moderately early tomorrow... Sigh.

I'm so excited to go back though!!!! :D:D Year two, here we come!! Minus the packing, waiting at the airport, dragging the luggage around, and getting initially settled in, the rest of the day should be brilliant!

See, now all of a sudden it's 2:12 a.m. I've been doing stuff... Late at night. Chatting, wasting time, not sleeping cause I don't feel like it... But maybe now would be a good time to finally call it a night (the previous time I wrote that sentence, it was 1:25 a.m.). Anyway, the next post will be a London post! See you then!! :D

Beautiful Vermont

We left NYC for Vermont on Tuesday. It took us 3 1/2 hours to get there, but the drive was gorgeous, lush, and green... Well, I missed some of it sleeping (I tend to fall asleep in a car when I'm in the back seat and not driving), yet what I saw on the way there reminded me of Bulgaria in a way.

Soon we came to some cute towns in a beautiful residential area... One of those towns was Dorset, set next to Manchester, VT. Namely Dorset was the place where Cynthia and Donald have their lovely home (see below). Before we went up to the house, we drove around town so that I could get a feel for the neighborhood. After New York, everything seemed so small and short there, yet there was an air of peace, tranquility, and beauty that you can't really 'breathe' in NYC. All around us was green and bright, fresh and natural; there were valleys, hollows, and mountains. That was certainly a great area to do some hiking around. We concluded our brief tour of the town only to continue with a complete tour of Cynthia and Don's house.

I slept in the main house where we also had most of our meals. It was spacious and very nicely decorated, of course. Every room had its own character and story behind it. Aside from the main house, there was a barn (a.k.a. the Party Barn where Donald had his own bar, pool table, fire place, TV and other cool little things that ensured that the only mood that could possibly persist in the barn was happiness and amusement); a guest house, smaller than the main house; and a pool house, smaller than the guest house... Naturally, the pool house came complete with a pool. All of that was surrounded by a grassy lawn with trees, and amidst a lush forest. If there was one place where a person could forget the busy city life and get some peace and quiet, that was definitely it.

(The main house)

The last thing we went to see was Cynthia's blooming flower garden which was right next to the guest house. As we were admiring the blossoming day lilies, the door to the guest house was opened and out popped two little girls, Sarah (6) and Ava (3) and their parents Nancy and Paul. Nancy's Don's stepdaughter and she had come up to Vermont with her family a few days ago. We spent the next couple of days having fun together. That same day, we had a tasty dinner together after which I went to bed with the intention of watching Night at the Museum... However, I fell asleep 10 minutes into the movie...

(Everyone in the barn; Left to right: Don, Cynthia, Nancy, Ava, Paul, and Sarah (yeah and me))

We had brave plans for the next day: how we would wake up, have a quick breakfast, and then go for a hike somewhere, or for a run, or something along those lines. Unfortunately, the weather had other plans... It rained all day. We didn't get to leave the house much, but we had fun inside. I was sitting with the girls, drawing tons of doggies and horseys and what not... :) I got to know Nancy and Paul a bit better since we had a lot of time to sit and chat. I was also busy with my new toy which had arrived the evening before... My new camera... :) Hehe. Even though it was raining, I still took a ton of photos, inside and outside the house, and basically of anything that crossed my path. I was testing out my Digital SLR walking around like a paparazzi. It seemed to me that we had a long day, but it was enjoyable. I was happy to be spending time Cynthia, Don, and the rest of the gang at Vermont. Another dinner; another early night. I didn't even attempt to watch a movie that night.

(The view from Cynthia's front porch - very mystical in the clouds and rain)

The next morning was brighter than the day before, so we used the opportunity to drive down to town where we had to do some shopping. Before we did that, though, Cynthia and Don were very understanding of my obsession with horses, so they took me down to a big horse show that was happening in Manchester. Was I excited! I had my camera ready and everything, and did not stop taking pictures from the moment we walked in the show area to the moment we left (which was just about the time when the rain started pouring in again).

After I had my fix of horses, we decided to go for lunch at a local restaurant which had a rooster as its 'mascot'. We had a good meal, then hurried back to our through the rain, did a quick scoop of some nearby shops, and then went back to the house. It was raining again and the best thing we could all do was rest. I went up to my cozy room and snuggled in bed. I watched a movie for a while then took a little nap. When I woke up, it was just about the right time for us all to go meet at the barn. We were planning on having a fun evening starting with some cocktails in the barn and moving on to supper at a famous restaurant in town. This time our plan worked out perfectly, resulting in a pleasant evening which also happened to be my last night together with Cynthia and Don... I was about to leave Dorset early on the next morning to go to NYC and JFK (and possibly some other abbreviations). This was a special last night that also left a pleasant memory in my mind. The evening ended with sparklers outside in the yard.

(The barn in the sun)

Yes, the sun did finally come out.. on the day I was leaving :S Of course :) I woke up early in the morning since I had to be ready for the car that was picking me up from the house at 9 a.m. Even though there were bits of sunlight here and there, this morning wasn't the happiest one I've had... I didn't want to leave yet! But sadly, the tickets were booked, the car was coming on schedule, and my parents were anxiously waiting for me to go back home and tell them all my wonderful stories.

It was time to say goodbye to my friends... But you see, it's not that hard when you know you're going to meet up with them again someday somewhere... :) So instead of goodbye, this was merely a see you later. :) When I left Vermont at 9 a.m., I was the happiest person on Earth, and oh so grateful that this happened to me!!!

(Flowers in Cynthia's garden)

Of course the long car drive, and the long flight, and the lack of sleep, and seeing the dirty-ish Sofia streets were not really part of the 'great side' of my trip, but it was easy to ignore those things just by thinking of the magical week that just passed...

Thanks again, Cynthia and Don!