Harriet and Nancy have to go to work. We have heard that the rain that is predicted will not start until the afternoon, so we arrange for a horseback ride in Hueston Woods State Park.
There is a scary-looking flock of turkey buzzards perched in a scraggly naked tree at the edge of the corral. Definitely sets a mood of doom.
Unfortunately, the rain begins as soon as we get on our horses. The first horse assigned to me has something wrong with his eyes. One is very red and the other will barely stay open. He is very listless compared to the other horse. I tell the young man who is leading us that I don't feel right about riding a horse that might possibly be ill. He keeps saying "He'll be all right" and I keep insisting that as a nurse, even a nurse of humans, I know he's not "all right". Finally he gives in and gets me another horse. I ask him to promise that he will tell his boss about this horse being ill. He agrees. I hope he follows up.
I think to myself that it does not bode well for the horse with the eye problem that those buzzards are hanging around. I wonder what we will find when we return from our hour's ride.
None of us is wearing rain gear. The young man has his sleeves rolled up. Bob has a baseball cap and I put up the hood on my fleece and put on the leather gloves that I am so glad I stuck in my pocket. It is about 45 degrees out, and very windy.
My new horse, Lee, is very gentle, but very hungry. He stops way too often to eat, and I have to reign him in. When he nibbles, he falls behind and then has to trot to catch up with the leader. I'm not so good at bouncing with the saddle, and I can feel that my bottom will be sore tomorrow.
In addition, for some strange reason I keep sliding to the right in my saddle and I must constantly pull on the horn of the saddle to straighten myself out. So my right hand is getting very tired.
Bob doesn't seem to have any problems. The woods are beautiful and still, except for the raindrops plopping off the leaves, and the slupp, slupp of our horses' hooves in the mud. The colors are vibrant, even in the mist.
When we return to Hamilton, we treat Harriet to dinner at The Texas Roadhouse, which used to be one of my Mom's favorite restaurants when we'd take her out on pass from the nursing home where she was in assisted living.
After Harriet goes home to get ready for work the next day, we see a bad Bruce Willis movie called "Surrogates", about cloned humans in the future.
On the way "home" we see what we think might be a white mink (or an albino skunk?!) running into the woods from the roadside near the campground.
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