Alive

3:15 a.m.

I open one eye and look at the alarm clock as it sounds, my body not wanting to leave the warmth and comfort of bed. My brain starts slowly processing the day's task at hand. Ten hours in the saddle, thirty miles to ride into the wilderness to our hunting camp and back out, the rugged, rocky trail, the mules loaded with hay. Damn. No. I can't force my body out just yet. Ten more minutes of useless sleep...

4:02 a.m.

The lights are on at the barn. I hear hoof beats running in the dark and my cousin calling "come boys". It's time to catch up the stock and saddle. Headlamp lit, I find m...