Riding in a Rainstorm

February 11, 2004: Houston Zoo

We took the kids to the zoo on Saturday to celebrate Jerry’s birthday. He turned 45 this weekend. Holy hell, 45! That’s one-half of 90. Ten years ago, I thought 45 was sort of old, in a mid-life-old kind of way. I remember when Oprah turned 40. I thought she was kind of old, and now she just turned 50. Gulp. As I sit here typing, it’s been raining for 3 days straight. I have to keep reminding myself what a beautiful day it was on Saturday. The skies were a fabulous shade of blue, and the temps were in the low 50s, with a soft breeze coming off the pond. It was perfect sweatshirt weather. We visited all the “must see” animals—the giraffes, elephants, tigers, bears, seals, and pink flamingos. For the first time, the turtles were not screwing in public. That’s a record right there. The kids played in the children’s zoo, running inside the tunnels of exhibits and climbing through the prairie dog tunnels. They played on the playground and, as usual, we saw several Life Flight helicopters land and take off from Herman Hospital’s rooftop. We stopped by the gift shop on the way out. Rachel picked out a pink ball cap with flamingos on it, and Mitch picked a yellow seashell stick horse. It was a fun day. Jerry opened his presents on Sunday morning. We went out for dinner after church and then had red velvet birthday cake that night. All in all, it was a great weekend of relaxation.

The rain began to fall on Monday. What a pain in the ass traffic has been since then. You start with your regular, Houston rush hour traffic, add some rain and slick pavement, and a few hundred miles of construction zones. You’ve got yourself a recipe for disaster. Everyone drives at a snail’s pace, fearful of what? I do not know. I swear these people can’t drive in rain. What is the problem people?! As Sgt. Carter would say to Gomer Pyle, “move it! move it! move it!” Step on the gas people, the streets are wet, so what?! Man, I’d hate to see what they’d do in snow or ice. Wouldn’t you know, I had to work late on Monday. Jerry picked up the kids. I made dinner and after that gave the kids their baths. We vegged out. I can’t believe I got sucked into another reality TV show, but I’m a schmuck. I was glued to the tube watching My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé. Why do I find this stuff so fascinating? Every time one of these shows ends, I swear to God I will not get sucked into another one. And there I go again. I’m watching the Bachelorette, too. What can I say, it’s Wednesday and it’s still raining.

At least I got out last night. Tuesday was my second lesson riding Sail. I was looking forward to it all week. I was determined to get out and ride regardless of the traffic, the weather, and the stress of it all. It was 48 degrees, raining, and windy. When I pulled into the driveway at the stables, it was really dark, but I could see one rider in the arena and Patti on the ground. I sat in the car waiting for the rain to let up. It didn’t, so I jumped out of the car and pulled my saddle and tack bag out of the back and bolted to the barn. Well, as well as one can bolt carrying a heavy saddle and tack bag while sloshing through deep, wet mud. I had about 30 minutes to get ready. I hung my saddle on a rack and headed down to Sail’s stall. She took one look at me and then looked away, like maybe I’d just go away. She was happily munching on hay and warmly wrapped in her blanket. I showed her a carrot. That got her attention. I took off her blanket and put on her halter. We walked down the aisle to the cross-ties. She stopped to sniff some of her friends on the way. I really enjoyed brushing her out, brushing her mane and tail and getting her ready to go. Patti and Nancy came in from their lesson. Patti checked the fit of my saddle on Sail, and it was perfect. I like riding in my own saddle. I finished tacking up, put on my gloves, and I led Sail through the rain to the other barn. Sail wasn’t bothered by the rain at all. The horses hadn’t been turned out for several days because of the heavy rains. I spent some time lungeing her in both directions. One of her back legs was stiff, but it loosened up after 10 minutes on the lunge line. A horse like Sail needs regular turn-out to stay loose and fit. Otherwise, she would stiffen up and go lame just standing in her stall. After the lunge, she seemed pretty frisky and ready to go. I got on and Patti talked me through some rough patches when I got nervous during the downpour of rain on the tin roof. She said my seat was really great so I concentrated on fine-tuning my steering. I was a little nervous at first because the wind was blowing. As we trotted down the rail, I could feel a fine mist of rain on my face. Once I realized that Sail wasn’t bothered by the rain, I began to relax and enjoy the ride. She has a nice trot and a beautiful canter. We finished up by cooling down and then before I knew it, it was time to dismount and lead her back to the barn. Patti pointed out all the improvements in the lesson, explained what we would strive for in the next lesson, and thanked me for showing up. She said she could tell I was serious because 90% of her students cancel their lessons when it rains. I put Sail back in the cross-ties and removed the saddle, splint boots and tack. I enjoyed brushing her out after the ride and putting her back in her stall. She has nice ground manners. I put her blanket back on her and after feeding her a bag of carrots, it was time to grab my stuff and make a mad dash back to my car in the rain.