home

Home > Dispatches > Daily Dispatches 2015 >Daily Dispatch 151

June 8, 2015: Doors Everywhere

There was a line in John Irving’s Hotel New Hampshire – it was “don’t pass by open windows.” I would like to amend this, and say “don’t pass by closed doors.” Sometimes doors appear and you don’t know if you should pass them by or push on them. Then sometimes you push on them and peer through the opening and pull back, and keep going. I’m guilty of doing the latter more times than I’d like to admit.

Many times I’ve given said doors a gentle shove and then decided (for one reason or another) not to push any further because I’d then be committing myself to having to do things that I was unsure about doing. This is why I am


Doors

now in many ways a failed human being who I wandering around aimlessly, like a drunken robin. I have done next to nothing with my life because of my reluctance to take on what I consider to be dubious tasks. Of course, because of this I have more regrets than Carter’s has Liver pills. (The latter was a saying my Grandma Guinan used quite often).

For example, I did not stay on as editor/reporter of the Chilkat Valley News in Haines because at the time I saw it as a dead end job. But Heather Lende arrived and took on the job shortly after I left. She’s now the author of three-bestselling books, all of which are about small town life in Haines, Alaska.

No more – if a door of any sorts appears, I’m going to push on it and step through, going where no interloper has ever gone before. Most recent example – this evening, I attended my first pony club meeting. This is a long-standing equestrian organization, primarily for youths. The Horsemasters are the ones who run the show, which are adults who simultaneously run and learn alongside the kids. It’s sort of like the Explorer Posts that are Boy Scout related.

Tonight I pushed on the door that led into the Sindorf Center, and after looking through the crack, pushed the door open further. I was then surrounded by children and their parents. The adults were attempting to figure out the ins and outs involved in getting a new Pony Club chapter going, and as well, some about its innumerable rules.

The kids – I can get used to the ever present background noise. The rules aspect of pony club – this will be harder for me to deal with. The terms Pony Club and Spit and Shine are synonymous with one another. The first part of the meeting was spent attempting to figure out what the dress code (yes there is a pony club dress code) might be. The initial list included a dark green polo shirt, khaki breeches, boots, and a matching belt. Oh yeah, and I learned that one’s hair must be pulled back when around the horses. There are reasons for such things – you can use your belt as a quasi lead line. And the boots protect the feet. There is also a list of gear that one must have on hand for pony club camp. It includes a leather or breakaway halter. This means no rope halters. Yay!!!!!

Well, one of the higher ups of the Anchorage Pony Club organization stood in the doorway of the sick horse stall (this was where we were holding our meeting) and essentially said that the wardrobe particulars weren’t as strict as we were making them out to be. Oh, there went a half-hour down the tubes. My take on it all is that I will need some real specifics if I am to pull this one off. Just dress up this wind-up toy, and push her in the right direction.

I learned that there are also innumerable forms that will need to be filled out, and as well, the pony clubbers and the horse masters will need to keep two binders on hand, one for activities and one for records. I guess that I’ll do all this – I’ll just need to keep an eye on the others and then follow suit.

This is going to be a march in lockstep sort of deal, more so than I first expected. It will be good for me to be surrounded by the sounded by children and give an assist in this horse-related endeavor. And it will be good for me to have to do equine type administrative administrativa – at least this is the sort of administrative that I have an interest in.

Perhaps I will be more patient than I am say, in dealing with non-horsey administrativa, that is home based administrava. It’s hard to say right now. I’m stepping through the door, cautiously, but still making headway. Indeed, doors open, doors open, doors open.

Next; 152. 6/9/15: Big Defeats and Small Triumphs

Horse Care Home About Us Dispatches Trips Alys's Articles