Sunday, September 12, 2010

The Call To Adventure

Often when I school Eddie (see white horse in the picture) I'll take a little break and ride out of the arena. We'll hike up and down the gentle slopes around the barn where he lives, or if the dressage-deer are around (they're the ones who stroll through the arena daily) we'll stop and watch them for a little while. Admittedly, I find them more interesting than Eddie. He doesn't care if they go into the woodshed or look like they're planning on walking through the barn. He does, however, think it's noteworthy if they stand on their hind legs to eat leaves off the trees. I'm not sure why. Nevertheless, if we take time out for a little adventure we can return to work with a little better attitude and a renewed effort. Concentration seems to come more readily and the little issues that were plaguing us recede into the background.

This morning my long-time student and friend was talking about having some fun and going to a schooling show. Not the dressage shows we normally go to, but a regular horse show where a group of horses are shown in the arena at the same time at the walk, trot and canter. Neither one of us have done that type of show for ages. Since Eddie and Spirrit, my friend's horse, are good buddies we figured they'd have a good time together. It's something different, something to turn the same old stuff into an adventure.

Evidently the call to adventure was in the air today. When I got home my husband and I swiped our kids' inline skates and drove over to a local walking/biking trail. To appreciate this you should know that neither one of us have skated for (mutter, mutter) years. My recurring thought was along the lines of how much it was going to hurt to break a bone, and how much it would slow my typing down to have a cast on my arm. I'm happy to report that while we both very probably looked ridiculous, and will be very sore tomorrow, we avoided injury. Best of all it gave us a chance to laugh together and enjoy the scenery.

The horse show is in October. I'll let you know how much of an adventure it turns out to be. With any luck we'll laugh, but won't look too ridiculous.

4 comments:

  1. My son played football in school. On the drive home from an "away" game, the bus broke down requiring the football players to get out and push. It took a while for the bus repairs so I drove to the high school in the middle of the night. Under the stands of the high school's empty football field, I saw deer munching on fans' leftover popcorn, fruit chews, pretzels, and hot dog rolls. I never knew how they cleaned under the stands, until then.

    I just came back from a break from writing, although blog demands kept up. You're right about adventure. What would we write about if we didn't have our own adventures?

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a wonderful story! The unexpected (and often inconvenient) can make for the best adventures. I'll bet the football players remember that evening as much as you do.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nice post, Susan. I forget to take breaks and to leave breathing room sometimes. Thanks for the reminder.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey, nice about being an Editor's Pick.
    An occasional hour off the familiar path is usually refreshing and sometimes inspiring. When I lived in the NC mountains, there was always a new road to take and find an unexpected view. Your post is a nice reminder to do more of it.

    ReplyDelete