Independence day

I was just reading the blog of a friend of mine that has recently moved to the states to be an au pair for a year! I must say that is very brave..dont know if I could handle that. I have no problem living on my own, working on my own and travelling on my own. But to live in another familys house, looking after their kids.. I dont know.. have a small feeling I wouldnt feel that comfortable doing it.

Anyway, she wrote that she was looking forward to celebrating independenc day over there and that made me remember the time I had my real 4th of July.

I was in North Carolina working in a 40 horse barn, riding riding and riding. on the 3d the guys that I worked with said they were all taking the next day off and I had to be all by myself.. well me and José that did the cleaning and feeding..I got really pissed off, I didnt want to be left alone with 40 horses while everyone else was off celebrating 4th of July! I went to bed early that night and woke up even earlier by Bryant ( my boss) knocking on my door.

" Sophie!! Get your ass up, you have to ride Smoke, Spook and Belle and at 9 am Liz and Diane is coming to pick you up. You get the rest of the day off."

So at 5 am I was sitting on my first horse for that day and had two more to go. It was so typical Bryant, he tried to be all macho and mean but he was really a super nice guy and when he felt I needed a day or two off, he´d give it to me.

So at 9 am Diane and Lizzy came down the driveway to the ranch in Dianes truck. We went for pancake breakfast down at the firestation, county fair in Selma, Baseball game in Smithfield and finally fireworks also in Smithfield. It was just the american dream for me. Down at the fireworks we were all laying down on the back of Dianes truck watching the amazing colors explode on the dark sky.

I know Bryant felt really strong for Independence day, being a Vietnam veteran he was a very patriotic man, and I know he felt good about giving me a real American Day experience.

One of these days Ill go back to see him. He might have yelled at me alot, and I was close to tears more than once, but he learned me so much. He is one of the few trainers Iv met that still has a real love for horses, that can say that his heart broke when Gunner ( one of the best horses he ever showed) was taken away from him and that does not treat his horses like machines. Yes he was a hard trainer, the horses didnt exactly have a veccation when they were there. But thats what trainers do, they train horses..train to show and compete and hopefully win something. And if you want to win, you cant be super soft with them all the time. But Bryant knew when to be hard on them, and when to give them a break.

I have experienced one 4th of July, and it was fantastic. It was a real southern small town celebration and my next Independence day I want to celebrate in a big city.

So this has absolutly nothing to do with Independence day.. but how can you not take a picture of these two blue creatures? I think you either love them or hate them..Personally, I love them. Not sure if I would love to have them in my own garden, but in someone elses...they are fantastic