I’ve been working on a poem again. Reading some of the breathtaking things on here has really been inspiring me to put the pen to the paper..but that is a work in progress. In the meanwhile, please don’t mind my sharing moments of absolute joy ♥️
Hello and welcome to my page~
My name is Larisa--a very common Slavic name that was either derived from the Latin word hilaris, meaning "cheerful," or from the Greek city of Larissa, meaning "strong fortress."
Born in Ukraine, I emigrated with my family to America when I was still a small child and now make my home in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Growing up immersed in two vastly differing cultures led me to have a burning curiosity about people all over the world. Stemming from said curiosity, I have fallen in love with traveling to other countries, meeting new people and delving into their culture, exploring new cities, and of course, dining on the local cuisine!
If I cannot escape into a different country, then my next favorite method of adventure is to lose myself in a spectacular book. I enjoy books of all genres--from fiction and novels, to biographies and ethnographies. As long as it captures my fancy and holds me spellbound the entire time, I will burn through the book like a forest fire! Because of this penchant for reading and travel, coupled with my love of deep and mysterious things, I have been often called a dreamer and I find the title suits me.
With that being said, I invite you to stay a while, perhaps make yourself a cup of tea and linger through my posts and feel free to comment or share a thought :-)
View all posts by ebonyandcrows
26 thoughts on “Natural Drugs”
That’s funny you should show this video, Larisa.
Because last night I was thinking about my dad (who died from cancer 11 years ago) and I remember on one occasion visiting my uncle’s farm up near Grande Prairie in northern Alberta, and my sister and I were talking to my uncle out of the blue about those people called “horse whisperers” (people who have the ability to calm horses just by talking gently to them and in some cases even whispering to them in a language unintelligible to most mortals).
There was a movie made in 1998 about such people called The Horse Whisperer starring Robert Redford.
Anyways my sister and I mentioned to my uncle that such people called “horse whisperers” only existed in legends and not in reality.
My uncle looked at us with surprise and said to us, “Your dad is a horse whisperer, don’t you know?”.
My sister and I just thought our uncle was pulling our legs but my uncle insisted that my dad always had this ability since he was a boy growing up with my uncle on my paternal grandfather’s southern Alberta farm.
Again we thought Uncle was just pulling our legs but then my dad came out of my uncle’s farm house and so my uncle shouted out, “Hey, George, come over to the corral and show your kids your horse whispering.”
My dad walked over and he approached neither with surprise or shock at the term used.
My uncle had spent half an hour trying to saddle a horse who seemed particularly wild that day.
My dad approached the fence and started talking gently to the horse.
Then he started whispering.
I listened closely to hear and it sounded to me like my dad was whispering in one of those elven tongues and languages to be found in Tolkien’s Lord of The Rings.
The horse came over to where my dad stood at the fence and my dad started patting him gently and then my uncle put the saddle on him.
I wouldn’t have believed it had I not seen it with my own eyes and heard it with my own ears.
It turned out horse whisperers do exist and my dad was one of them.
That’s another reason his death from cancer was such a tragic loss to the world.
I was thinking about my dad last night and then the memory of his horse whispering that I hadn’t thought about in years suddenly came rushing back to me.
And then lo and behold, today you show a video of yourself trying to rope a horse.
Wow! Thank you for sharing that story 💕 It’s so incredibly interesting how the world works like that, isn’t it? Like we are all tied in some way and synchronized even when we don’t realize it. Our vibes reach across time and space and interact with others. Amazing. Horses do have a language of their own and I am in awe every time I immerse more into it. I love horses so much.
I am sorry for the loss of your father. He sounded like a really special person. I feel like people who are good with animals are just incredible people to be around.
Yes, it is interesting how things are tied in and synchronized.
Because the WP blog that was emailed to me right atop your blog post notification after I read your post was a movie reviewer I follow and his latest blog post was a review of The Lord of The Rings movies.
And I had mentioned to you in my comment just before how it sounded to me like my dad was whispering in a language similar to the elven tongues in the Lord of The Rings.
Strange how such things tie together.
And you’re right about how people who are good with animals are just incredible people to be around.
I remember my sister and I had a pet New Zealand Angora rabbit we named Fluffy when we were kids and it was my dad she liked the most of all the people in our household.
My parents would have never been able to afford horses so I’m learning everything from scratch. But it is such a thrill! Lunging the horse is really important despite that it looks like a simple exercise. There’s a lot that both horse and I are actually working on.
Is that your horse, Larisa? If so you are lucky, I love horses too, and if I ever see or hear of horses being mistreated, I get my friend Bruno to teach them a lesson — they never do it again.
It is not my horse, Ember is one of my trainer’s horses, but my goal is to own one of my own one day. With horses, I imagine that it’s hard to hate them! Who is Bruno? 😊
Bruno is a tough guy I know who loves horses more than people. He hates that old movie “The Misfits” for example because it’s about a couple of macho-bs cowboys who round up wild horses in Nevada to sell them to animal food factories.
Rob, I grew up in the country! I am a country girl at heart and a cowgirl in the making 😁 I love that you enjoyed this video! After all, everyone loves a dirty cowboy (or cowgirl) 😆😘
Ahh Rob, here I am ♥️ Thank you for checking in on me, this really warmed my heart. I did check out, I am sad to admit. But heartache has a way of drawing one back to writing, lol. Maybe I can start producing content again. I missed you.
Oh. My. GAWD. Larisa I absolutely adore horses and all things equestrian. As a child I was obsessed with them – I collected horse figurines, books, artwork. I would beg my parents to take me to local farms and stables just to feed and pet them. My lifelong dream has been to own enough land to have several horses. …. Something so majestic about those creatures. Their strength, their wild is never too far away. There is a bond between them and humans that is tricky to master but so incredible and satisfying to achieve. They have an soulful intelligence. I saw this post and just…. melted. Absolute puddle. The fact you are investing your love in them fills me with SO MANY fuzzys. (Random side note: my husband proposed to me after taking me horseback riding on a snowy mountainside) Happy sigh. I wish we lived closer I would give anything to be out there with you and those gorgeous creatures 🎀🦊🐎
Ahhhh this comment from you made my day because SAME!!! On the bus rides to school, I would often spend the entire morning ride lost in daydreams of horseback riding. I grew up in the country so we would pass by horses and cows and other farm animals and it was a never ending source of inspiration. When I was way smaller, I used to follow tutorials on how to draw horses and would practice drawing them. (I vaguely recall having some kind of drawing tutorial that taught you how to draw various animals.)
Your husband is such a romantic!! That is a wonderful proposal story 😍Men can be so thoughtfully creative when it comes to doing something for the woman they love.
I wish you lived closer too, I’d love to go on trail rides with you ♥️
(Ps. I am rushing out the door to an appointment I am late for, will respond more later)
Ebony and Crows 
That’s funny you should show this video, Larisa.
Because last night I was thinking about my dad (who died from cancer 11 years ago) and I remember on one occasion visiting my uncle’s farm up near Grande Prairie in northern Alberta, and my sister and I were talking to my uncle out of the blue about those people called “horse whisperers” (people who have the ability to calm horses just by talking gently to them and in some cases even whispering to them in a language unintelligible to most mortals).
There was a movie made in 1998 about such people called The Horse Whisperer starring Robert Redford.
Anyways my sister and I mentioned to my uncle that such people called “horse whisperers” only existed in legends and not in reality.
My uncle looked at us with surprise and said to us, “Your dad is a horse whisperer, don’t you know?”.
My sister and I just thought our uncle was pulling our legs but my uncle insisted that my dad always had this ability since he was a boy growing up with my uncle on my paternal grandfather’s southern Alberta farm.
Again we thought Uncle was just pulling our legs but then my dad came out of my uncle’s farm house and so my uncle shouted out, “Hey, George, come over to the corral and show your kids your horse whispering.”
My dad walked over and he approached neither with surprise or shock at the term used.
My uncle had spent half an hour trying to saddle a horse who seemed particularly wild that day.
My dad approached the fence and started talking gently to the horse.
Then he started whispering.
I listened closely to hear and it sounded to me like my dad was whispering in one of those elven tongues and languages to be found in Tolkien’s Lord of The Rings.
The horse came over to where my dad stood at the fence and my dad started patting him gently and then my uncle put the saddle on him.
I wouldn’t have believed it had I not seen it with my own eyes and heard it with my own ears.
It turned out horse whisperers do exist and my dad was one of them.
That’s another reason his death from cancer was such a tragic loss to the world.
I was thinking about my dad last night and then the memory of his horse whispering that I hadn’t thought about in years suddenly came rushing back to me.
And then lo and behold, today you show a video of yourself trying to rope a horse.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow! Thank you for sharing that story 💕 It’s so incredibly interesting how the world works like that, isn’t it? Like we are all tied in some way and synchronized even when we don’t realize it. Our vibes reach across time and space and interact with others. Amazing. Horses do have a language of their own and I am in awe every time I immerse more into it. I love horses so much.
I am sorry for the loss of your father. He sounded like a really special person. I feel like people who are good with animals are just incredible people to be around.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, it is interesting how things are tied in and synchronized.
Because the WP blog that was emailed to me right atop your blog post notification after I read your post was a movie reviewer I follow and his latest blog post was a review of The Lord of The Rings movies.
And I had mentioned to you in my comment just before how it sounded to me like my dad was whispering in a language similar to the elven tongues in the Lord of The Rings.
Strange how such things tie together.
And you’re right about how people who are good with animals are just incredible people to be around.
I remember my sister and I had a pet New Zealand Angora rabbit we named Fluffy when we were kids and it was my dad she liked the most of all the people in our household.
And my dad was an incredible person to be around.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh and ps., what I was doing with the horse is called ‘lunging.’
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Lunging eh?
Thanks.
Not having grown up on a farm, I really don’t know much about horses.
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My parents would have never been able to afford horses so I’m learning everything from scratch. But it is such a thrill! Lunging the horse is really important despite that it looks like a simple exercise. There’s a lot that both horse and I are actually working on.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Is that your horse, Larisa? If so you are lucky, I love horses too, and if I ever see or hear of horses being mistreated, I get my friend Bruno to teach them a lesson — they never do it again.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is not my horse, Ember is one of my trainer’s horses, but my goal is to own one of my own one day. With horses, I imagine that it’s hard to hate them! Who is Bruno? 😊
LikeLiked by 2 people
Bruno is a tough guy I know who loves horses more than people. He hates that old movie “The Misfits” for example because it’s about a couple of macho-bs cowboys who round up wild horses in Nevada to sell them to animal food factories.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Larisa is a cowgirl???? Thanks for sharing this video. It really made me smile today.
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Rob, I grew up in the country! I am a country girl at heart and a cowgirl in the making 😁 I love that you enjoyed this video! After all, everyone loves a dirty cowboy (or cowgirl) 😆😘
LikeLiked by 2 people
Where are you? Did you join the rodeo and stop blogging????
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Ahh Rob, here I am ♥️ Thank you for checking in on me, this really warmed my heart. I did check out, I am sad to admit. But heartache has a way of drawing one back to writing, lol. Maybe I can start producing content again. I missed you.
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Cant wait for new things from you ❤️
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Xoxo ♥️
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Oh. My. GAWD. Larisa I absolutely adore horses and all things equestrian. As a child I was obsessed with them – I collected horse figurines, books, artwork. I would beg my parents to take me to local farms and stables just to feed and pet them. My lifelong dream has been to own enough land to have several horses. …. Something so majestic about those creatures. Their strength, their wild is never too far away. There is a bond between them and humans that is tricky to master but so incredible and satisfying to achieve. They have an soulful intelligence. I saw this post and just…. melted. Absolute puddle. The fact you are investing your love in them fills me with SO MANY fuzzys. (Random side note: my husband proposed to me after taking me horseback riding on a snowy mountainside) Happy sigh. I wish we lived closer I would give anything to be out there with you and those gorgeous creatures 🎀🦊🐎
LikeLiked by 3 people
Ahhhh this comment from you made my day because SAME!!! On the bus rides to school, I would often spend the entire morning ride lost in daydreams of horseback riding. I grew up in the country so we would pass by horses and cows and other farm animals and it was a never ending source of inspiration. When I was way smaller, I used to follow tutorials on how to draw horses and would practice drawing them. (I vaguely recall having some kind of drawing tutorial that taught you how to draw various animals.)
Your husband is such a romantic!! That is a wonderful proposal story 😍Men can be so thoughtfully creative when it comes to doing something for the woman they love.
I wish you lived closer too, I’d love to go on trail rides with you ♥️
(Ps. I am rushing out the door to an appointment I am late for, will respond more later)
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I was enraptured by this comment. Could picturize every magical detail.
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That’s so cool! I can tell you’re having fun there!
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The barn is my therapy. It’s even better than shopping.
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To be honest I’m with you there all the way. Shopping kills me 😂
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Okay but I don’t hate shopping ☺️
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Ah – my mistake lol
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Such a fun video! YES, it’s time to get outside again! 🎊
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Absolutely ♥️ Xoxo
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xoxo ❤️
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