Unabridged Opinions

Well, I’m finally back from a sort-of vacation back to Southern California.  (One of the highlights of which was eating as much Mexican food as I could in ten days.  Hint, that’s a LOT of Mexican food, but not ENOUGH Mexican food: subtle difference there…) I went to announce at the horseshow at Copper Meadows, an eventing venue in Ramona, California. It was a fantastic time–I announced all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (basically, I was blathering on about horses, sponsors, photographers, and following rules for twelve hours a day–and yet, totally fun.)  I then tried to hang out with everyone possible in the ten days remaining.  And ride. a lot.  I got the riding in (thanks Sarah and Nancy!), but I had a hard time finding enough time to hang out with everyone.  Partially, it was because a friend of mine has just had a baby, and it was just so easy to spend a few days just being mellow with the new mom and baby–and partially it was because, between the riding and the working and the running around, I kept falling asleep by 9pm.

I made an unusual choice (for me) on this trip: I only brought three books.  Well, three books in my bag.  On my iPhone, I had about fifteen books in e-book form and ten audio books.  Except for one minor breakdown (I saw Christopher Moore’s newest Fool, and I had to buy it to get me through the 5 hour wait for the second leg of my trip). It worked quite well–my carry-on was much lighter, and Iwas able to live out of one small bag for the twelve days.

Of course, I knew I would be able to borrow books (from friends and family) and, it turned out, I was so busy I basically stuck my headphones in my ears with an audiobook on at 9pm and was asleep by 9:15, so it wasn’t a regular vacation.  I think, if any down-time had actually been possible, I would have *needed* my normal ten or twelve books, but this time it worked. (Now, if anyone could help me out with the really, really bad farmer’s tan I managed to acquire while there, that would be great.)

Remember this? Even though I moved here in November, it was the winter that really struck me.  A little over a month ago, the snow was crunching under my feet, and I was wearing four layers while attempting to go for a run. These last two weeks, though, there were leaves on the trees and bulbs blooming everywhere. I added ten minutes to my walk into town because I kept being distracted by the bright purple and yellows of the flowers or a tree that started leafing out in bright green. Or the sun, which has been making an astonishing number of appearances in March. I’ve been making smoothies and opening every window in the flat with something that is not far short of glee. Continue reading

This sort of dreamy fade-out was one of the effects the photographer did with our wedding shots. Somehow, it feels like it works better with horses. This is Truce, a horse I rode while at Briarwood Riding School–he is now owned by another of Sarah’s students and is an adored member of the family. Besides being gorgeous (and a great mover), Truce also managed to give me my first and only black eye. And I have had the flu for the past week and wanted to relive a funny memory, so you get to hear all about it. Continue reading