D. the beautiful

Horse, Horse, Horse the Second

Tomorrow I will ride D. for the first time. We did the meet and greet on Tuesday. It went surprisingly well, especially for me with my fear of strangers. D. is as gorgeous in real life as he is in the facebook photos. And his owner? Is incredibly nice. I was shocked. The women at the barn where I work are friendly, but I have found most horse people to be quite uptight. It takes forever for them to warm up to anyone, if they do at all. Even when I was good at rodeo (far in the past) I never felt like I fit in. But D.'s owner is friendly and has offered to share her tack and other essentials. We were supposed to meet on Monday to ride, but she texted earlier and we are meeting tomorrow. At 5. I am excited and nervous. Very nervous. I would blame my desire to drink on nerves, but I think that it's just my typical desire to drink. (Yes, I am an impending alcoholic.) Anyway, I wish my new riding boots would arrive on time. Doubtful though. I hope they fit!

Love in Infant Monkeys

Just finished the first of my Classics Challenge books. Love in Infant Monkeys is a collection of stories by Lydia Millet. Its available at Amazon, but I checked mine out at the local library. This book was a runner up for a Pulitzer Prize. I found it to be a mix, the way I find most short story collections. Some stories, like Sir Henry or Tesla and Wife, left me wanting to know more. At the end of those stories I knew I would be researching the subject further. Others were difficult for me to finish. Thomas Edison and Vasil Golakov was my least favorite story for several reasons. I found the subject of elaboration between the two men ( Thomas Edison and Vasil Golakov) distasteful and and the subjects themselves were unsatisfying. Sir Henry, is the story of a dog walker and his feelings toward his charges. One of these charges is Sir Henry. The dog walker reminded me a little of myself. The animals are the important thing for him, but he still wants the outside world to accept him. The end of the story is a choice not yet decided. I hope he chose for his happiness and not for social acceptance.