I have never been that adventurous. No skydiving, no bungee jumping, and no tattoos. The idea of any of those things sounded scary. Very edgy, and if you do them, I'm probably be impressed. But not me, the giant chicken of the west. So maybe it would make sense to you that when we visited Larry's uncle's horse ranch, right after we got married, I wasn't super anxious to hop right on a horse. I liked the kind called "Old Paint" that were fat and mostly lazy. The horse I got on that day(as I was trying to be brave and fit into the family) was neither. And since everyone knows that horses can smell fear, and he had already eyeballed me and sized me up, I ran the risk of embarassing myself in front of family I didn't really know and wimped out, dismounted the horse, and went home.
The next time I tried to ride a real live horse(as opposed to the fat ones that shuffle along the trail), we were in Costa Rica. There was a RAIN FOREST. And a VOLCANO. Surely that would make up for the fact that a giant beast who could smell my terror would be jostling me around. And although I didn't wimp out, it was a fear-filled hour and a half ride around a rain forest, wherein one of the horses from our group tried to make a break for it, and the guide had to chase him(and his rider) down. I whispered to mine that he better not get any ideas. And then I went back to cowering and bumping along.
This summer, I got reaquianted with one of my favorite songs from high school. It was a song that we used to listen to on the way to camp, make videos to, and it would make me, a weird and insecure high schooler, excited about the future. And it can be related to the previous equine theme. Yep, SCC's Great Adventure. And while I used to love listening to that song and thinking about all the great adventures that life has, it's a lot easier to plan for them when you are 16, instead of 34. And I know it's a God song, about being a Christian, but right now, as I time wimpy contractions and wait to go to the hospital to meet our 3rd child, I can't help but think that the 16 year old me had no idea what kind of adventure she was getting into. From marrying a coach and being completely submerged in all things sports(yikes) to a totally different career than I ever imagined for myself(but guess what? I love it) to 3(yes, three) kids. Who i'm pretty sure can smell fear, too.
I guess what I am trying to clumsily say is that even though horses freak me out, and I will not ever be able to canter and post and all that other jazz, and Larry and I are getting ready to be outnumbered by children(on homecoming week, no less)it's probabably just fine that I'm not the one picking my adventures. Because I might still be at home, reading a book. Not terrified. But bored, with bad eyesight.
I"m so impressed! You went to the RAIN FOREST!?
Posted by: Christi Ellis | 09/26/2011 at 12:35 PM