I have been so neglectful of this blog. It looks like my life might calm down a bit because my mom is now in a nursing home in Bennington, Vermont. It's hard to visit, because she is in a dementia unit with people who are the worst of cases. When I saw her last week, she was very out of it, but still begged me to take her home. It really is heartbreaking to have to leave your mother in this situation. The staff is very caring, but it is institutional there. They have her on a new medication, that my brother feels has helped her awareness. We'll see how it goes.
Meanwhile, I have been working on a freelance writing job for a local school district's newsletter that is occupying all my free time. The poor horses don't see much of me, between two jobs and visiting my mom. I'm hoping to make time for them in the near future. I really need to get back on a horse for my own confidence, which took a serious hit last summer when Sailor threw me for the second time. It's awful, after 12 years of riding 3-4 times/week, to suddenly be totally afraid to get on even old Noble. And I hate myself for it. There's a new equine facility that opened near me that offers lessons, and I'm thinking of taking a lesson or two on a school horse just to get my confidence back. It's really crazy to take care of two horses that I don't ride.
Work at the bookstore keeps me very occupied. We have 17 author events in June, which is a lot considering I am a one-person department - and I work part-time. Fortunately July is shaping up to have only 11 events, which is much more manageable for me. Our big "star" author is Michael Lang, the creator/producer of the original Woodstock Festival in 1969. He has a book coming out called The Road to Woodstock, and it's fascinating reading. You get all the dirt on what went on behind the scenes. I worked in the press tent at the 1994 Woodstock Festival, and bumped into Michael Lang, but never officially met him. So this should be interesting. He's sort of an enigmatic person, so we'll see how open he is in person. Anybody near Manchester, Vermont on July 25, come on over and meet him and relive the old hippie days!
It's a good confidence builder to take a lesson on a reliable school horse - if I were you I'd do it. The bookstore is a big job - that and the horses probably keep you very busy. If you don't feel like riding your horses, don't worry about it - they are well cared for and happy and don't really care if they get ridden!
ReplyDeleteYour mother's situation is difficult, and must be heart-breaking - but you are trying to do your best for her and should not be down on yourself about it - these things are hard!