Land beyond land and tall tree forests of green.

I’m on the back of my horse, who sweats and turns fast. My seat is strong and my hands worn just the right amount. My cowboy leads us, galloping off to a halt to rope the stray calf in the trees. He gets her and pulls her in, his horse holding steady between his thighs.

He smells of sweat and dirt, lifting his hat ever so occasionally to air his hair, putting it back at a tilt so he can see me enough through the sun.

He whistles over to me and my heart races as it usually does. He notices our daughter straggling behind on her horse, swinging her rope over her shoulders and focusing so hard on catching her mama that she leads her little sorrel into the brush and away from the herd.

I throw out a yee haw and she looks up, her smile reaching out into a laugh and her blonde curls swinging under her straw hat as she rolls her head backwards.

She lets out a little yee, signalling to her daddy for his most epic one.

The mountains echoed with his voice and only the reply of the natural world to call back. It was our piece of world. His, mine and hers right here. This is our little piece of paradise.

We continue on all day like this, starting in the early hours and on until the sun has set. Rae works tirelessly to stay awake despite the sight of the sun setting and her horse beneath her rocking her to sleep. She is strong and stubborn like a mare, she fights it until she can no more.I pull her onto my saddle, letting her sleep against my horses neck and her little breaths are peaceful. Jack pushes the herd on with home in sight beyond the next roll of mountain. He looks over to see Rae in my saddle and he smiles. He stretches his arms out wide and looks above, praising the heavens for his life, because in this moment, it was perfect.