Jessica R Faunce
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Stories (6)
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My Hero, the Stranger
Everyone told me I was crazy for wanting to travel through Central America by myself as a small young girl from the middle of nowhere of rural eastern Washington. I had just gotten through a bad breakup that extended through the whole summer. I almost wanted to do it to escape the constant phone calls and disparagement of my ex more than any other reason since I always eventually answered to tell him to leave me alone. Therefore, travelling internationally to avoid having a working phone sounded great, no matter how scared I was.
By Jessica R Faunce4 years ago in Wander
Unlocking Your Own Power
You are not meant to live an idle life. You are meant to make a difference, on a grand scale and in your everyday encounters. Only when you don't follow what you know is right or are untrue to yourself does life come in and redirect you, often in harsh lessons. Everything in your life has all led up to make up what is you.. all of the good and bad experiences shape you based on your reactions. Those that persevere have the capacity to change the world and help those around them succeed and overcome. These are the people that don't give in to pettiness, jealousy, or wishing circumstances were different, but instead take action in their life. They help those that need it, without succumbing to the belittlement of those that aim to use others. Don't let the harshness of others make you bitter. Learn and move on. Learn to let go of ego in order to redefine who you are. Love and give without expectations of something in return.
By Jessica R Faunce4 years ago in Motivation
Using Horses to Define Community
Growing up in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho, my childhood consisted of horse games with my friends such as tag, racing, jumping off the horse into the creek down the road, and pretending we were bandits on the run. Out of the horses that my family had, half of them were unwanted rescue horses that my mom found for me to work and the other half were ones I raised and trained born out of these rescues or other horses we owned. Due to my father being a crop dusting pilot, we grew up in rural areas where my dad had a good relationship with landowners who let us live on their cattle ranches with our horses. Therefore, we were able to have our horses on range land without actually owning it.
By Jessica R Faunce4 years ago in Petlife
Wildfire Problems, Wild Horse Solutions
Wildfires increasingly plague the inland Northwest each summer. Not only does this destroy homes, land, and affect air quality, in 2018 alone it cost Washington state $173,685,041 in damages (USDA Forest Service, 2018). The fire season continues to increase with warmer temperatures earlier in the season and draught being a common occurrence each summer. This allows fuels to dry out, which are also increasing due to the continuing expansion of invasive grasses such as cheatgrass. This causes millions of acres of land to become prime flammable areas. Although the very wet and cold winters of the region do help some, they more often cause an overgrowth of vegetation in the spring which then dries out and adds to the fuel later in the season. Of course, climate change is one of the most common explanations for this, but fire policy is another. The way that this is managed has not caused an increase in the number of fires, but an increase in fire intensity and acres burnt (Ward, 2018).
By Jessica R Faunce4 years ago in Earth
The Coyote and the Hound
Dogs are our best friend, but very few ever had the freedom of Elmer Fudd, the red bone hound. He is a ranch dog like no other, truly a hound of hounds. I would say he’s my dog, but really he is his own dog. I am just his bud that he lives with that provides food, water, and access to his bed through a dog door, when he feels like it. He often chooses to sleep outside hanging with the horses, his other friends who somehow have learned to love him, after making a game out of him chasing them. Sometimes he even herds them to me when he knows I am trying to find them in the woods to go for a ride, although he started out doing the opposite. But even that isn’t his favorite game. His favorite game is to race cars down our remote dirt road driveway as they leave, reaching speeds up to 30mph. It terrifies anyone new coming to the ranch for the first time thinking that he is running away, but everyone used to him has fun racing him out of the driveway. He always gives up as soon as he reaches the neighbor's driveway to head home, sometimes bringing the neighbor dog back for a date at the food bowl. He is in love with her, but fortunately their date never progresses beside him bringing her inside to the food dish.
By Jessica R Faunce4 years ago in Petlife
Night Rides
There was a chill to the night. Not just in the weather, but in the unsettling feeling of being alone in a land full of unknown nocturnal spectators. Coyotes howled and yipped in the distance, the sound of hoof beats made a continuous rhythm that matched my heartbeat, almost emphasizing it. I felt the heat of the horse’s warmed muscles through his shedding winter coat under my legs, like the warmth of the early spring day faded. Stars brightened the sky, but in the darkened woods it made no difference. There was a ranch house in the distance behind some trees, a beacon of light in an otherwise sea of darkness. The horse snorted out of excitement as he picked up his pace as we got closer to home. I was sure he also felt the same eeriness I felt. As we came around the corner of the dirt road we were following, he stopped suddenly.
By Jessica R Faunce4 years ago in Earth
