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Return to Bloggery
Out from Under
July 11, 2010
Here are some things in my life that have returned to their pre-horse settings -- having just bought a new computer, I'm tempted to call them "defaults," but these aren't things I was equipped with when I left the factory. They're more like shrubbery and wildflowers overshadowed by a giant tree: they stop growing, they look like they're dead. Once the tree is gone, they come back to life.
- Dangly earrings. I've got a couple dozen (at least) pairs of earrings that I've worn little or at all in the last 11 years or so. Around barns they catch on things, some horses think they're toys, and yes, while trail riding I've had even non-danglers snag on low-hanging branches. So I got out of the long earring habit. Day in, day out, I wore the same posts, even when I was going out -- which I didn't very often (see next item for details). I'm rediscovering my earring collection. Don't be surprised if it starts expanding. My eBay account has been idle for at least two months.
- Nightlife. In the last two weeks I've worked house for a production at the Vineyard Playhouse, gone to a gallery opening (Mary-Louise Rouff's, at the Shaw Cramer Gallery) and a book-launch party (for Susan Klein and Alan Brigish's Martha's Vineyard Now and Zen, at Bunch of Grapes) on the same night (!!!), and attended an outdoor concert by Jemima James and friends at Featherstone. During my years as a born-again horsegirl I hardly went anywhere at night. Partly I was too broke, but mostly I'd get home from riding and doing barn chores and be too sweaty and/or tired to have any interest in going out again. Once you've taken a shower, who wants to get dressed again? Besides, showers make me drowsy. I'd rather kick back with a beer or two, do a little work, then go to bed.
- Bras. Horsegirls with serious boobs wear sports bras. I love sports bras. They're the closest I'll ever come to being boobless. I can climb over and through fences, jump off pickup beds, swing bales of hay up to the top of a pile, all without being aware of my breasts. When I got back into horses, I stopped wearing my light cotton bras. No way could I canter or do a sitting trot in those things. For walking and biking, however, not to mention sitting at the computer, they're pretty comfy. I'm wearing them again. They also cost a lot less than good sports bras.
- Hair. My hair, believe it or not, is curlier. Curlier enough that I was several weeks overdue for a trim before it began to look unruly. It's not just the heat and humidity (hair-curling though these have been), it's the absence of helmet head. Helmets do a pretty good job of straightening hair. If only I'd figured that out as a teenage straight-hair wannabe, I would have worn my hard hat more often.
Not everything has changed, however. When I got back into horses, I didn't much care for beer. At potlucks and parties, I'd drink wine, usually white, though that wasn't something I'd cross the street (or pay) for. Maybe it's because working outdoors in all weather raises a thirst that can only be quenched by beer. Maybe it's because horse people drink better beer. Whatever the reason, being in horses turned me into a beer drinker. I'll drive all the way to Oak Bluffs if I run out of beer. I'm not hanging out at barns any more, but I'm still drinking, and paying for, beer. Not right this minute, however. Right now I'm eating oatmeal. It's too early for beer.
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