My Horse, Patches

1963 YMCA Camp at Estes Park Map  "Blithedale" (8:00), Livery (4:00)

When I was seven years old, my parents, my two sisters and my grandparents set out in two blue Chevrolet sedans for a long road trip from Texas to Colorado. We were headed for the YMCA of the Rockies at Estes Park which has access to hiking, birding, back country camping, horseback riding and fishing in Rocky Mountain National Park’s Moraine Park. I've always remembered our trip as the perfect vacation. I still have a little charm bracelet that memorializes our passage through Texas, Santa Fe, Wyoming and Colorado. Wait a minute. I don't remember being in Wyoming...

Well, I definitely remember the fun of switching cars and getting to sit between Honey and Papa on the front bench seat so cold air could blow right on my face (before seat belts and booster seats). I also remember our hike up to Bear Lake, where there was snow, even in mid-summer. As we were leaving there, I smashed my big toe in the car door and it was a bloody mess. My silly grandmother tried unsuccessfully to comfort me by making up a rhyme: "To Bear Lake, to Bear Lake, to see all the snow; home again, home again with a busted toe."

My strongest recollection is that of my horse, Patches. I've often recounted that every day I would ride the beautiful paint horse on the mountain trails. The reality is that I only rode Patches two or three times at most. And looking at the "Corral" on the map above, it might have been in one big circle!

Recently I heard Daniel Kahneman's TED talk, "The Riddle of Experience versus Memory" as it applies to happiness. He shared his research on the "experiencing self" (what is actually happening in the present), and the "remembering self," (the storyteller reconstructing the tiny bits actually recalled). I will concede that my memory of those actual experiences may be in question, but the well-being I feel when reflecting on that vacation is priceless, especially having my very own horse, Patches.

The best vacation ever as I remember it

My parents' brand new car as they remember it