Winter Vacation Viewpoints

Winter Vacation Viewpoints

First of all, you have to know that I hate winter.

Not a normal, “Jeez, it’s cold and I don’t really want to go out” kind of hate, but a deep down, dismal, depressing, demoralizing, dark and doleful, all-consuming hatred that leads me every year to wish I had married that nice young man from Kentucky instead. (Sorry, Steve.)

Knowing this and given the winter we’ve been having (February being the coldest month we’ve experienced in 115 years, according to the weather gurus), I decided to take a break. I asked a lovely young lady at the barn to groom Chips three days a week for me while I was gone, and I left.

I have done this before, while boarding at other barns, and had noticed a fundamental difference in the responses to my re-appearance, compared to the return of someone who had actually gone South. The vacationers were unfailingly met with delight and happy queries; “You look great, all tanned!” “Where did you go?” “How hot was it?” I, on the other hand, who had stayed in this frozen hell we call a Canadian winter, was met with reproach; “Why did you stay away so long?” and “Your poor horse missed you!” I went to the barn again for the first time yesterday, expecting the same kind of censure,  and was amazed and delighted by the response I got. “Good to see you!” “Hi! We missed you!” “Glad you’re back!” I’ve said it many times, but sometimes it bears repeating – I love this place! (especially in warmer weather!)

 

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