In response to:
https://wp.me/p2Ks6Z-KrL

When I searched my archive for 235, an entire season opened.

2020.

Lockdown.

Silence in the streets.
Uncertainty in the air.
Time stretching in strange, unfamiliar ways.

And yet — in the middle of all that — there were the horses.

While the world felt paused, they were steady.
Breathing.
Eating hay from red buckets.
Watching us with those deep, ancient eyes that seem to know more than words ever could.

The animals became our salvation.

Not in dramatic ways.
But in routine.

Feed.
Water.
Brush.
Walk.
Sunrise.
Sunset.

The rhythm of their presence kept our hearts from spiraling.

I see the rainbows.
The golden sunsets over the volcanic land.
The soft lights in the bedroom during long evenings.
The hedgehog curled safely into itself.
The dog resting close.

Even my youngest daughter broken foot in that white cast reminds me —
we were slowed down, yes…
but we were still moving through something together.

There were school shoes in circles.
Empty classrooms.
Long horizons with almost no cars.

The world was holding its breath.

But out in the fields, life continued.

The white horse ( Ceniza) at the fence.
The brown one ( Estrella ) lowering her head to eat.
The wind over the island.
The sky always wider than fear.

Looking back now, I understand something:

Healing does not always come through answers.
Sometimes it comes through hooves in sand.
Through warm breath on your shoulder.
Through the simple act of caring for something that depends on you.

In a time when everything felt uncertain,
the animals anchored us to the earth.

— Maggie
The Afterlove Voice 💫