What I miss...

So lately I've been missing home... but a particular thing about home. I know that it is still cold and snowy in New York, but for some reason it doesn't seem that way to me. Since it's so warm here and it feels like summer I kind of picture it as summer back home. And summer is sort of always what I lived for at home... taking out rides at Bennetts, eating steak on dinner rides and unsaddling horses in the dark, rushing off to the rodeo...

Specifically what I miss is sitting around a fire with the people I care about. I love summer in the Adirondacks because it will be so hot during the day and you'll be sweating as you ride your horse in jeans and a long sleeved shirt... and then the night comes and there is that cool, pine scented breeze. I MISS that breeze. Ryan was teasing me last night that I am one of the few people in this world who would gladly trade a palm tree for a pine tree. And I would! I always said that I was addicted to the smell of horses... apparently I am addicted to the smell of pine trees as well!

Right now I'd give almost anything to be sitting around a campfire, after a long day of riding Nickel and going swimming with him, and then giving both of my horses long and luxurious baths. It'd be the sort of weather where once the sun has gone down you're glad you're wearing jeans... and I'd have slipped on my Quiet Run hoodie (I MISS that thing Catherine!) because the breeze is chilly. We'd all sit around the fire and talk and tell stories and jokes for hours. We'd be making s'mores and drinking beer and just relaxing.

And the sparks would fly up between the branches of the pine trees and when we left our clothes would smell like horse and wood smoke and pine trees.... that is the perfect combination!

I hope this post didn't make me sound too depressed! I'm not upset at all, just a bit homesick for my family and friends and horses and the smell of pine trees. All my Bennett's Babes will understand. But things are going great here, just to reassure you... we're going out to dinner tonight with friends so look for a post later tonight about the food we had there (apparently dinners are served on banana leaves) and the delicious dinner I made last night... I love trying new recipes!

Here are a few photos of things I wish I could have right now.

This first one's a photo of me on my boy Snickers. You can see my other horse (the white one), Nickel, in the background. The other photo is of the horses at Bennett's waiting for breakfast