Abandoned Cattle Chute: What’s Your Internal Fence?
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We came across this old cattle chute in Arizona not far from the Hoover Dam. I was only familiar with the cement “cattle walks” (which is what we call them here in the states) that I have driven through on the highway. (I deplore them!) I found the construction to be very quaint: square head nails, rusted barbed wire, and branches as posts. Primitive? Yes, but I’m sure it served its purpose.
Note: Read the Quote of the Day–good questions to ask oneself.
© Teresita Abad Doebley. All rights reserved 2009-2011. Quote of the Day for YOU:
I’ve watched the movie Chicken Run at least a half-dozen times. Just beneath the surface of its simplistic look and story line lie a number of wonderful messages told through the eyes of a bunch of Claymation chickens trying to break out of their chicken-wire world to escape their fate at the chopping block. Their freedom leader, a feisty little hen named Ginger, comments profoundly in one scene: “the fences are all in your mind.” She reminds her fellow chickens (and us), that a bigger obstacle than the physical fences they’re surrounded by are the mental fences that hold them captive.
It’s been a good reminder for me on those occasions when I’ve been dealing my own mental fences…those created by self-doubt, uncertainty, fear. Can you relate? Where have you fenced yourself in mentally in recent days or weeks? Perhaps your mental fence is procrastination, a deadening habit that keeps you stuck. Maybe yours, like mine, is related to self-doubt, and the on-going internal noise it produces that keeps you immobilized. Perhaps yours is the belief that you don’t deserve success, so you sabotage yourself to avoid having to find out how successful you could be. There are a million variations of the theme, but the result is still the same: we stay stuck like the chickens in the movie.
“How do I limit myself and how can I stop?” Those limitations are never external. They always live inside us. The antidote to being trapped by our mental fences is to create a compelling enough vision that, like Ginger and her flock of chicken friends, we’re willing to resort to amazing measures to break out. ~Betty Mahalik
I can just imagine the history behind those old fences.
It would make for a great short story . . . :)!
I simple adore the very last photo with “the bleached in the sun” wood.
Thanks, “Atom.” It was a lucky find.
Excellent photos – I love old cattle chutes but haven’t been able to capture them to my satisfaction with the camera. And I personally am fenced in right now by my perspective of how little time I have and getting over a broken heart. Hoping the chutes will open soon.
Big hug for you, Seasweetie. All you need is time . . .
once again… RIGHT on the mark with this one! PERFECT way to start the day!
Ed
Beautiful photographs and probing thoughts, as always.