a breath of fresh air...

I was busy they other night being super lame because I am now "normally" in bed by about 8:30 these days; (Why? Because I'm perilously close to turning 29 and apparently that means I get lamer by the day...)
and I was reading a little magazine on the history of Aiken and learned that originally, people started coming here for the fresh air and to get away from the muggy, buggy, air in Charleston. It was a respite for those with respiratory issues, or those that needed a break from "city life". With the vacationers came the horses, and farms were built all over for polo and foxhunting and other equestrian sport.

Here we are today and Aiken is still a cute very horse centered town. I have to agree the air is often quite crisp and it's strangely breezy most of the time- for the very flat terrain anyway. So this weekend, my very own breath of fresh air rolled into town in the form of my two doggies- brought down by one very cute course builder/boyfriend. I cannot even describe my excitement when I woke up on Friday morning and knew it was only a matter of hours until I got to hug those two precious furry faces that would surely be accompanied by Steve and that smile that gives me butterflies. As the day went on, it became apparent that my gloriously imagined reunion with my three favorites was not going to go quite as planned. Steve got called to do some work out on the course at Sporting Days, and I got busier and busier- as the day before horse shows alway seems chaotic- no matter how organized you think you are! Finally- I had to jet out to Buckleigh to get the dogs- who were with his sister and her horses that she brought down for the show and I would just have to catch up with him later. When I finally arrived after what seemed like the longest 25 minutes ever (bear in mind I have NEVER been away from my dogs for 3 weeks before), I already had tears in my eyes as I opened the tack room door on the horse trailer and Doodle literally came shooting out in all of her fat black dog excitement and tackled me to the ground. I hugged her and rolled around on the dusty ground a bit with her as she squealed and cried with excitement and poodle was jumping in my face and licking me between barks. I missed them more than I realized and I was so glad to see those sweet faces. I sat with them in the dirt for a few minutes and then had to throw them in the truck and jet back to the farm because there was still a set of horses to hack, evening feeds and two to braid!

Steve arrived later luckily catching a ride back to the farm with Lucia who went to walk her courses and we had a relaxing night in. I snuggled incessantly with Rylie Boo and was happy as ever to drift off to sleep with her little brown furry body nestled next to me and the soundtrack of Doodle breathing/snoring on the floor next to the bed. As good weekends always do, time flew and before I knew it, it was Sunday morning and I had to load them back into the truck and drop them with Steve, his sister and mom for the drive back to Virginia. I drove there basically in silence, knowing that if I talked too much about saying good bye to the girls and Steve, my throat would tighten up and my eyes would well with tears. I managed to squeak out a good bye to everyone and hug the girls before trotting back to the truck without a major breakdown.

Dont' get me wrong- life in Aiken is fab and horse filled, but I miss my dogs and I had no idea how attached I had already become to the tall blonde boy. My dogs are literally my "four-legged children" and I can only imagine how hard it is to be separated for any length of time from your human children, if being separated from my canine children is this tough. They seemed very happy though and Rylie Boo is ridiculously attached to Steve, literally whining for him every time he left the room or the car. I was a little jealous...

So my breath of fresh air blew out of Aiken as quickly as it blew in. I needed some time with my doggies and I'm so grateful they got to come down for a visit. Hopefully they can come again for the Pine Top advanced weekend. Until then, I'm breathing the crisp air outside and missing them a lot, but remaining thankful for all the good friends and family I have- long distance or close, I'm grateful for all of them.

Horse related updates coming soon. Jazzy has something to tell you.
-Ellie