The ride out to the stables would be twelve miles there and back, and the journey there was a slight incline the whole way. I don't know how in shape I am or am not. I like to do zumba, go hiking, and swim as much as I can when it's warm enough, but I've never considered myself an athlete or a fit person. My Doctor once told me that I had the healthiest heart he had ever heard, but biking 54 miles this week felt like a lot to me.
K hired me for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to work from 8:30- 12:30 each day. There would be around 8-12 kids ranging in age from 6 to 12. While the parents dropped off their kids, I found name tags and set up chairs for a get to know you game. After that, K and I broke up the groups (she to riding lessons or the barn) and I out to the fields. I got the kids out in the wide field running the obstacle horse course, playing chickens, tag, statues, and red light, green light. I got out the balls, bubbles, and hula hoop. One girl impressed me with her ability to hula hoop for a long stretch of time. I played along with them and had a great time. I tried hula hopping and failed. They were spunky, adventurous, creative, and easy to enjoy. One time the kids played cowboy and horses with the one boy that showed up for the day. He was seven or eight, with his cowboy hat on and black boots, pretending to shoot the wild horses of girls making horse noises. There was snack time, t-shirt making time, and craft time.
It ended up being so cold on New Year's Eve that K canceled camp on Thursday and rescheduled for Saturday. It was still extremely cold on Friday and Saturday, but the sun finally came out on Saturday. Friday was the lesser of the days. I think we felt at a loss as to what to do and were surprised by the temperatures. The kids couldn't ride horses because it was too cold, frozen, and the horses could slip. Time passed a little slow on Friday. Saturday the kids got to ride bareback and make t-shirts, which seemed to go over pretty well. It was wonderful to work for K- a calm, soothing spirit, the perfect spirit to be around horses and kids.
My last day, Saturday, was the coldest morning yet. I was on mile 3.5 and someone stopped to offer me a ride. He was a nice looking gentleman in a shuttle van. He said, "You look absolutely miserable. Could I give you a ride?" So my frozen face and stiff legs had a hard time resisting. I got in the van and haven't been so thankful for a stranger's kindness in such a long time. I think all the cold, on my bicycle and working outdoors, wore me out, and this man's kindness lifted my spirit again.
I know as a camp counselor you probably shouldn't have favorites but I definitely did. My favorite participants were the twins, E and L. They were small ten year old girls that had an incredible amount of energy. They drew amazing pictures of horses, thought of clever games, were happy with anything, and giggled with me. They won my heart big time. They also told me they were adopted from China, that they had been found on the side streets by a street sweeper and given to an orphanage. Then, their parents found them. They seemed to have a really cool dad. He came every day to drop them off and pick them up. He had a nice shiny car, a distinct English (?) accent, paid attention to them closely, and remembered my name even though I had never told him. I felt so much love for these girls, for all the kids, to be a small part of loving them. As I told the girls goodbye today, I thanked them for being awesome, and they came and gave me big hugs. It melted my heart, took away the cold, and made me thankful for so many things.
the girls liked braiding the pony.
D and L feeding one of the horses a carrot.
Me- pink as can be, early in the morning...
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