I, the reluctant adventurer, will be away from home for two weeks. Two weeks! An eternity for someone who feels like a trip to the mall is a major undertaking and two nights in a bathroomless cabin gives me blind spots in my visual field.
My forever friend
Dr L lives on a horse farm out in the boondocks beyond Los Angeles. I haven't been in her neck of the woods since we were both in college, so I'm long overdue for a visit. We have both reached the age where the occasional bit of repair work is necessary, here and there, and it's currently her turn. Her grown daughter managed to schedule her wisdom teeth extraction on the same day and so will be indisposed (and probably either loopy or cranky or both,) and her dear husband is, well,
a husband and not especially well suited for the role of Cherry Ames, RN. So under the very democratic system known as "who can be slightly less under-qualified?"; I rocket straight to the front of the pack. You advertised for a smoothie maker, dog-petter, tv remote finder, and toenail painter? Maybe throw a load of towels in the machine? I'm your candidate!
Remember when you were a little girl (excuse me, all former little boys, but you might as well log off right now) and you loved everything
about horses, played
with horses, pretended to
BE a horse, dreamed
about horses, and fully expected to grow up and be a
horse vet or a
horse trainer or just have a
bunch of horses?
Dr L is living the dream. She
IS a vet and
HAS a bunch of horses. Although at one point in my past I actually had my very own horse [dearly departed Buttons], that wagon rolled decades ago and all I have left of my childhood devotion is a box of Breyer models (not including the classic beauties I foolishly gave away to some little kid who probably broke them or lost them--sometimes when I don't have anything else to kick myself about, I like to torture myself with that.) I suspect
Dr L's real live horses will see right through me.
Hey, don't hate me, horsies. It was a really long time ago.
This trip also includes Thanksgiving which means cooking and eating, two of my favorite things to do, and also a hit-and run visit with
my niece. I have a whole armload of nieces but this one shares that special
one-of-these-things-is-not-like-the-others gene with me.
And speaking of travel anxiety, I'm off to plan the rest of this adventure while trying not to picture my house being broken into and robbed and my cats all cold and hungry. See you on the other side.
