Grab the Lapels

Sunday Lowdown #225

THIS WEEK IN REFLECTION

Okay, so this week kicked off in the middle of my vacation, which went from Wednesday the 17th to Wednesday the 24th. Remember how I told you about my in-person horror book club? Well, one member stayed up until 5:00AM to finish the novel and then . . . slept through book club. So, before we left Alabama on Sunday, we decided to have lunch at a brewery so we could meet up with him. I added the lunch date to our Discord group so anyone else could come, too, and we had some joiners.

Starting on the left: Caitlyn, Daniel, Ryan, Mike (who missed book club), Nick, me.

Then, we left the state and went back our cabin in Kentucky. The next day, I had it my head that I really needed to ride a horse. I saw an ad for a place that takes you on a trail through the Kentucky hills, which lasts around one hour.

See that dirt trail in the middle? That is NOT what we took. We went through the trees to the left, all the way around, and down through the trees on the right.

I even felt like I looked cute on a horse! I was confident that I would be fine because I have ridden motorcycles, and you get on the same way. We ended up waiving the helmet requirements because without my floppy hat, I knew I would burn to pieces. Currently, I have a dermatologist who will yell at me for being in the sun; I do not have a neurologist who will yell at me for not wearing a helmet.

Smug in a floppy hat, because we haven’t started moving yet.
Still haven’t started moving yet. Waiting for our guides.
A lovely horse ranch kitty that I pet before we took off.

Here’s the problem that I did not know I would have: the pommel, which you hold onto so you don’t fall off and die, is so close to my center of gravity that I just felt like a hapless weed in the breeze. And I was up way higher than I had realized I would be. For the entire ride, I was 85% sure I was going to die. At one point, I looked down at my hands clenching the pommel and noticed they were legitimately the same color as my horse. We went up and down steep hills, before which the guide at the front would tell us how to move our feet, lean, etc. And it doesn’t help that you sign a waiver saying they are not responsible if your horse gets spooked, runs away, throws you, etc., or if you encounter a wild animal, biting insects, whatever. I thought about all this + no helmet the entire ride.

Once we got off the horses, my legs and hands were shaking. Nick remarked what a peaceful, relaxing activity it was while I shook like a man on death row. Within an hour, though, we were exploring a cave. One of the benefits of doing vacations from Wednesday to Wednesday is no one is around when you do activities (and everything is less expensive). The horse thing we did without other people joining, and same happened with the cave exploration. The cave has the longest suspension bridge over a subterranean river in the world. The only problem is caves are all stairs — up, down, whatever. And with shaking legs, it’s hard to maneuver on janky cave rock steps. However, our guide has a degree in geology and environmentalism, so he was really cool to talk to, and a rock nerd, which I love. Eventually, the shakes went away, just in time to contend with climbing all the stairs back up to the top.

By Tuesday we were headed home to Indiana, a trip that Google said would take 5.5 hours that ended up being 11 hours, and I’m not really sure where all that extra time went. Clearly, I have experienced the Twilight Zone. But we arrived! Just in time for me to be three days behind on my homework for the week and to undergo an allergy test, which required I be pricked 42 times and receive an under-the-skin injection 38 times. I am allergic to maple, alder, and birch trees, two types of dust mites, and somewhat to cats. I’m going to proceed with allergy shots, which is a 3-5 year commitment that I am told requires two injections weekly for a year before being spread out to bi-weekly, then monthly, etc.

Lastly, Biscuit and Dad arrived on Friday evening. We set up a garage sale for Saturday and Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. So far, I’ve been meeting lots of people from the area and selling our stuff. We priced items very cheaply. Has anyone else noticed that garage sales are charging prices closer to used-goods stores? What’s the point of that if you end up taking it all to Goodwill anyway?

As of writing this blog post, I realize just how ragged I feel from travel and then cramming way too much homework into too few days. We’re given seven days (Sunday morning to Saturday night) to do two weeks’ worth of schoolwork (it’s an accelerated online class), and I started my schoolwork on Wednesday . . .

THIS WEEK’S BLOG POST

I’m so glad folks enjoyed my reviews of the two vampire-romance novels by Katie MacAlister. There was only one problem: I noticed as I re-read my post to respond to your comments that there were typos everywhere. How embarrassing. I went through and fixed them all, so I’m hoping any late readers will arrive at my post and think, “What a scholarly dissertation on impassioned human-vampire relationships in the twenty-first century postmodern society!”

NEXT WEEK’S BLOG POST

At some point I got pretty far ahead with my reading, so I had book reviews scheduled out for months. Thanks to school and reading loads of books by men that I own lately, I only have three posts left in reserve! I’ll have to get back to reading more women ASAP. On Wednesday, I’ll share my review of It Will Just Be Us, a haunted house novel by Jo Kaplan.

BOOKS I BOUGHT

Books I paid for (that are not textbooks) since January 2023: 1

  • True-Biz by Sara Novic ($1)
  • Rants from the Hill by Michael P. Branch ($1)
  • The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories, edited by Peter Haining ($1.50)

Running Cost: $3.50

BOOKS ADDED TO THE TBR PILE

Thanks to Bill @ The Australian Legend for recommending that I read Barbara Baynton, and to Sue @ Whispering Gums for recommending William Trevor. I couldn’t find the specific books they suggested, but I am able to get my hands on the authors’ other works.

19 comments

  1. I rode a horse once when I was about ten years old and that was enough for me! Ha ha.

    My son is six months into allergy shots and I think they’re already helping. Hope yours help too! Dust mites are the devil but they’re everywhere.

    Do you go to a lot of garage sales? We had one of our own not long after we moved into our house years ago and it was not lucrative, lol. We made enough money to cover the cost of the newspaper ad and then bought lunch. Now I just take all my unwanted stuff the rescue mission store.

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    • The allergist said that most people experience relief, and I’ve been breathing out of one nostril for long enough.

      Last summer we went to MANY garage sales, especially since we’d just bought the house and were procuring things like shovels, furniture, etc. I put up a sign at the end of my driveway and one at each of the corners of the road. We made $50, though everything was price super cheaply. I wanted it all to go, no matter what. I made a lot more last time I had a garage sale, though we had better stuff, more stuff, and had higher prices. Part of it is I enjoy visiting with people and trying to convince them to buy things.

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  2. Greatly enjoyed your post, Melanie, and I understand completely about horses. I’ve done a couple of trail rides like that – one on our honeymoon (first for my husband) and an earlier one on a holiday with girlfriends. They are terrifying, and I don’t think things like helmets were even offered back then – I’m talking the 70s. Those horses are big! You made me laugh when you likened it to a motorcycle so thought it would be straightforward. They (horses) are hard on your bum (or butt, as you Americans say) too.

    Your “Currently, I have a dermatologist who will yell at me for being in the sun; I do not have a neurologist who will yell at me for not wearing a helmet”. Clearly though your inner neurologist started yelling at you.

    I’m really glad you’ve checked out the William Trevor. Good luck with him.

    And now I’m closing – you are not getting a tome this week! – because I’m tired, it’s late, and I have much packing to do tomorrow BUT we feel we are over the hump now and can get it done!

    Good luck with your studies.

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    • Actually, my rear end was fine, though I know people who say their hips hurt when they get off the horse. I did not have that problem.

      Thanks so much for taking time out of packing to write to me. It is always appreciated and a lovely light in my day!

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  3. It sounds like you had a good holiday (despite the stressful horse ride)! I’ve only ridden a horse once, and it was when I was a very young child so I don’t remember it very well. I would like to have another go some time though.

    I hope you enjoy the William Trevor – I really enjoyed the collection I read earlier this year and am looking forward to reading more of his work.

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  4. Horses! I love horses and riding horses. The best vacation I ever had was when I was 13 and my mom and sister and I visited my aunt and uncle in Oklahoma. They had a farm and a small herd of Appaloosa horses, and my sister and I each got our own horse to take care of the two weeks we were there. I learned how to saddle them and got to ride around and around the field every single day a couple times a day. Heaven! I haven’t been on a horse in a very long time and I do miss them so. James has never been on a horse and has zero interest in finding a stable where we could ride. I don’t even have to ride, I just want to feed a horse a carrot and feel their velvety nose snuffling in my hand and pet them a little. I’m easy to please 🙂

    Glad you had such a wonderful vacation! I hope having to catch up on homework didn’t whoosh all the fun and relaxation away.

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    • I had a whole new feeling about “horse girls” once I dismounted. They must have a bit of crazy and bravery that I didn’t notice before. Maybe I should have ignored the long, distracting ponytails they wear and looked more closely for a twitch in their eyelids.

      I did love cuddling the grey kitty before I got on the horse, so I can see how a horse nose would be lovely to touch. I didn’t pet my horse at all for fear of scaring her or making her feel weird, or whatever, and the unceremoniously throwing me on the ground.

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      • Horses aren’t so very scary when you are used to being around them and know how they behave and what to expect. I’m sure the horse they gave you at the stable was a gentle one so you wouldn’t need to worry about them trying to scrape you off against trees 🙂

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  5. I have ridden a horse exactly once in my life and it was a very old one who did exactly what he wanted and never went any faster than I could have walked on my own two feet. I have no real desire to ever try it again.

    The garage sale thing is so true! We stopped at one last week and nothing had prices on it but Rose was interested in a picture book. I thought it would maybe be a couple of bucks so said we could get it. The woman wanted $10! For a used book on the side of the road!

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    • I listed all of my books at 50 cents because that is what they charge at the Friends of the Library sale. I had jeans for 75 cents, t-shirts for 25 cents. Honestly, I wouldn’t even pay a couple of bucks for a picture book from a garage sale.

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      • You forget, I’m Canadian – everything’s more expensive here! It was a large hardcover collection of several books so I was ok with a price like $2. $10 was out of hand. I hate when you go to garage sales and it seems like the seller doesn’t actually want to sell their stuff. As if you’ve barged into their house and are demanding to buy their old stuff!

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        • Lately, I’ve noticed in my area some folks who have a garage sale every year, but instead of getting rid of their things, they go around and procure stuff from storage units, etc. It’s more like a weird flea market. Nothing looks like it’s in good condition.

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  6. I went horse riding in Iceland in 2017, I was last in the line and got a naughty horse. Have you ridden before they said. No, I said. This was a lie. And I got up and grabbed the rains like you do and then they knew and they slapped the horse’s bottom and off she cantered. She was skittish, we went through a river, they have a different gait I couldn’t manage and I was convinced I would die. I didn’t. Not as bad as a camel, anyway. Lovely to hear all about your trip and at least you know what you’re allergic to now, too!

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  7. Good on ya for riding that horse! I have ridden horses before, but I’m allergic, so I always have to remind myself to wash my hands before touching my face, which is sometimes hard to remember.

    I too am embarrassed when I re-read some of my blog posts and notice spelling mistakes, etc. I have no idea why, but here we are.

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    • I have never heard of anyone being allergic to horses. That’s wild. I wonder if it’s their hair or some enzyme in their spit, or what.

      I don’t typically re-read blog posts, but lately I have been before I read any comments because some of these posts were written several weeks ago. Gotta remember my own review!

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      • I’m actually allergic to rabbits and hamsters, gerbils, etc so maybe it’s something all those animals share? I just love rabbits, I think they are so adorable so I”m sad I can’t have one haha

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