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 Reflections and ruminations from a modern day Alice - Life is Wonderland |
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Reflections and ruminations from a modern day Alice - Life is Wonderland  Welcome to the place were I chronicle my own falls down dark holes and adventures chasing white rabbits! Come on In, Take a Bite, You Never Know What You May Find... "Curiouser and curiouser." Alice in Wonderland ** Image ID #1701066 Unavailable **   |
| 30 Day Blogging Challenge PROMPT January 28th I had a different prompt in mind for today, but decided as it’s the last Monday of January, we all needed a little pick-me-up. Write about something happy in your life! What’s happened recently that made you smile? What’s the last thing you laughed at? I will award a MB to my favorite entry today! It's the last MB challenge day of the month, so give it your best go! In order to fully appreciate this post, I'll have to divulge something about my personal life. I am very close to my sister but and also very different from her. We refer to ourselves as "city mouse" and "country mouse". My sister lives on a 9 acre horse farm with a menagerie that includes goats, horses, cats and dogs - so you can guess which one of us is "city mouse". I frequently joke that I have nightmares of waking up in her life, in some freaky Friday scenario that suddenly finds me running her doggie daycare and boarding business - something I would be ill equipped to do with my wardrobe of heels and pencil skirts. Notably, she says the same exact thing about my life. Until recently, I had no cause to explore my sister's rural and rustic lifestyle. I was content not to ever know the true identity of the substances she ends each day covered with. Then, my sister launched "operation Jaden" and everything changed. I'm not sure why my sister waited until my daughter was eight to begin her crusade. It might have had something to do with us moving closer, a mere seven minutes from her new horse property. It might have just been that she had bided her time with her only niece long enough. Whatever the reason, last summer she gifted my daughter three weeks of horse camp and subsequently opened her eyes and her heart to the world of horses. My country mouse sister threw the gates to her world of fur and hooves open wide and my daughter marched through, dragging her mom (with her entirely inappropriate barn footwear) with her. Suddenly they were a secret society of two, planning and plotting for a future strewn with horsey things. Just as suddenly, I was a barn mom, which meant I was fully engaged in many, many things I had zero experience with. My daughter attacked her learning curve with gusto and passion while I, accepted my fate with as much dignity as I could muster. I bought myself muck boots and dug in, trying to seem anything but completely out of my element. Here is the thing...and the real meat of the prompt...I've discovered that I like it. I've learned enough to know my way around the barn now. Her Tuesday evening lesson is time I actually look forward to spending with my daughter. I love watching her, acknowledging that she does seem to have the natural ability as a rider that my little sister always had. She is developing confidence and a real appreciation for the mental and physical challenges of riding. She adores my sister too, and I love the connection they share. I love that in so many ways, my sister has become my daughter's hero. It makes my heart happy to watch them together. It isn't just about my daughter though. Over the last year, I've grown to love this part of my sister's life, this part we share with her. I love the horses, their dark eyes reflecting something back about us all. I have an appreciation for the ones that work hard, take care of their riders despite having their own limitations. There is a special kind of grace about being with them, these massive animals who outweigh our fragile human bodies yet trust us to guide them and to care for them. There is an exchange of trust that is connected to something in our souls and it moves and fascinates me. It brings me a kind of peace...the smell of the barn, the wide open sky above the paddocks, the pounding of my daughter's mount in a rolling canter. I enjoy the moments of tacking Sonny up before the lesson with her, sneaking him peppermints to keep him cooperative in the colder weather when he feels his years more. I love visiting my sister's own horses, and the trio of Friesian babies that currently reside with her - each of them mini black beauties that are all spunk and fire. We had the task of feeding her horses while she was away on her honeymoon and I grew to love the walk out to their pasture to drop their hay and grain in those late October afternoons. They would see us coming, their beautiful heads raised, expectant and welcoming of the meal and the petting session we were about to bestow on them. Again, there is a peace it brings me - similar in the way I used to feel slipping beneath the waves in my dive gear. Similar but different, because I am more then an observer in this world. This world demands my tactile engagement in a way scuba diving did not. Horses want that emotional and physical connection, those touches and words whispered in soft, flicking ears. I can see why people own horses, there is a quiet magic to them that brings a certain kind of solace in its wake. Recently we were bringing Sonny out of the lesson ring and paused to clean the dirt from his shoes. Since she was stepped on early in the year, this task is one my daughter continues to be leery of. It usually falls to me to "show" her again how to get it done without getting her feet crunched. I've gotten pretty confident about it now, I've come to know how best to get Sonny to bend his leg up so I can clear out the clumps quickly. I was demonstrating for my daughter again...how you have to learn close against him, keeping your feet parallel to his. You have to reach down and grab his foot, forcing him with your body weight, to life the leg and keep his body in balance. I must have been demonstrating it with an air of authority because I heard her trainer exclaiming, "wow Mom, look at you!" as she walked up behind us. I honestly-to-God swelled with pride in that moment. I felt myself smiling. Because, here is the truth, straight from a city mouse's mouth...I like the way I've managed to learn this stuff. I like the fact that I own muck boots and can wear a head lamp with pride. I like that I know how to tack up a horse and that I go home smelling like them. I love that I can slip in mud or horse poop and not care which one it actually is. I love that I know how to help my daughter zip up her half chaps or that I even know what half chaps are! I love this little bit of country mouse I have in me now. I love it...a lot. It makes me happy in a way I never would have expected.  |
| 30 Day Blogging Challenge PROMPT January 27th Because this is one of my favorite prompts that I just love to repeat, I have to do it again *Wink* Reflect on the 30 Day Blogging Competition as a whole. What is something you learned about yourself over the course of the month? What is something you learned about your fellow competitors? I've been really proud of how I've kept up the drive to complete every prompt this time around, even if that meant catching up on Sat/Sunday prompts on Monday morning....like I'm doing this morning! I think overall I missed one day - Jan 19th. That is something of a record for me! Overall, my favorite part of this has been connecting with my fellow bloggers and feeling that sense of community here. I have greatly appreciated the way Charlie ~   puts so much of the personal struggles, insights and triumphs into every blog entry posted. I have enjoyed the humor and candor of Robert Waltz  . I have discovered much common ground with penntonic and SPACE COBWEBS @ 18!  . There have been more each week who's blogs I have read, laughed with and learned from. I have appreciated every time someone has read and commented on one of my posts as well. I'm sorry to see January coming to an end but it has been a really positive and welcome experience. |
| 30 Day Blogging Challenge PROMPT January 26th We’re in the final countdown of the competition! Only five prompts remain. For this final Creation Saturday, write about something that’s in its final countdown. Have fun! Playing a bit of catch up today and feeling a bit melancholy which is maybe why this prompt makes me think of my senior dog, and how we all feel like we are watching him run down after a long and active life. Turk is rounding on age 13, which for a Min Pin is pretty old. They typically have a lot of health issues, they are not the heartiest breed. Luckily, he has been spared from diabetes and heart problems, but he does suffer from arthritis and has lost 70% of his vision as well as his teeth. He is increasing irritable and believes since he can not longer see a person's face clearly, it must mean that they are a murder or worse. I frequently have to apologize for barking and snarling, to strangers and family members alike. He prefers to spend most of time sleeping under the blankets or stalking me about the house. He feels safest in my general orbit and so I discover he is rarely more than two feet from me. Even when I shower, I can make out his small silhouette through the foggy glass, patiently waiting for me on the bathmat. He has lived a long and full life where he has been pampered and cuddled. He has been our problem "child" and our treasured companion. It is clear that he only wants to be with us now, in his final years and we oblige him as much as we can. He comes to work with me most days, having been banned from doggie daycare for his less than hospitable attitude, and sleeps under the deck at me feet. Aside from a rare burst of manic energy, he prefers to lounge about. Every once in a while, he will get the bug to play and run. We are treated to the glimpse of the frolicking puppy his once was before the red fur of his face turned gray and his bright, intelligent eyes grew cloudy. So we are loving him but mentally preparing for what we know will be his final time with us - as is the way with the old dogs we know and love. |
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