Snow Days

We had a snow day here yesterday. As in, everyone suddenly has to go to the library and get books and movies because they can't get out to go to school. I'm usually glad to go home early on those kind of days, but it wasn't to be yesterday. It was extra cold, too. It all got me to thinking about how much I normally enjoy being outdoors. When I was a bit younger I insisted on being outside all the time! Indoors was pretty boring. Those were days long before interesting things like BLOGs and computers, Ipods and I tunes. So, because I had a horse, I had freedom to roam around the Illinois countryside even in the coldest of weather. My parents got me a ski mask before the start of winter season and that was enough to keep me out riding my horse every single day even when it was 20 below zero. My girlfriend and I would ride our horses for miles. Racing and walking, talking and dreaming, watching the sky turn from a bright blue afternoon to the dark of a winter night. It was always lovely even when it was cold. My dad told me I would come to hate the winter at some point, but I know I didn't believe him! Occasionally I would try new things with the horses. I thought it would be fun to have the horse pull me along on a sled over the snow. That's when I found out that Stormy had some sort of phobia about ropes. Run a rope behind him and he went wild. Really wild. Bucking and kicking. Snorting and rearing. A person can get seriously hurt that way. Sleds, when they hit you, are dangerous weapons. Hitting snow from the height of a horse's back can still be quite hard and actually knock the wind out of you.