GERA Classic ReVisited: Part Four

[Howard4567@aol.com]

Marie has made two side dishes and sits down across from me with my cooler 
between us.  It's quite apparent that I'm not prepared for company and that 
I'm a slob when it comes to camping.  I feel an urge to go around my site and 
pick up the empty beer bottles and arrange my horse stuff scattered on the 
ground in a more orderly fashion.  But it's too late, my guest has already 
arrived.

Marie asks me why one of my stories just disappeared from an endurance 
related magazine recently.  They published part one but never continued the 
story.  I tell her it has to do with that woman from north Georgia and the 
power of the Internet.  Apparently, the instant emails sent to the magazine, 
reflecting negative feedback from my story, scared the new editor bad enough 
where he just pulled the subsequent segments with no explanation.  It might 
have also been the theme of that story which was you really can kill your 
horse (or come damn close) in the sport of endurance.

After dinner Marie feeds her horse and I wander over to Bernie and Randy's 
spot.  I don't stay long cause Randy is way too jumpy getting ready for 
tomorrow.  Just watching him gets me to thinking about the start and my 
stomach doesn't need any more acid in it right now.  At my age there are few 
things that can get me excited and endurance competition is definitely one of 
them.  There are moments, here at these tent and trailer compounds, where I 
feel like a young kid all over again.  Life is magical and transforming two 
well over 40 year old men into a couple of teenagers is one neat trick.

I go over to Roxanne's trailer to see how she's doing.  Rocky has bought 
along five 6-week old terrier puppies and they draw a crowd, especially of 
young kids.  I was supposed to help her sell them (I owe Rocky big time for 
sponsoring my kid on several occasions) but they seem to be doing well enough 
without my assistance.  The puppies fit in your hand.  Too adorable!

I meet a young girl, Sandra, who is holding a puppy and seeking employment as 
their caretaker while Roxanne rides tomorrow.  The young girl is eleven, the 
same age as my Jennifer.  Sandra's mom, Debbi, is a successful rider, from 
the great state of Florida, who wins a lot of the 50 mile runs, especially in 
the land of the Gator.  My guess is Nina will get first place and Debbi will 
get second here tomorrow.  Even dweebs like myself know who the real 
competitors are.

I ask Sandra if she will show me how to braid Rebel's mane.  I want to try 
and keep him cool as much as possible tomorrow.  She comes over to my 
campsite, I get out the rubber bands, Sandra stands on a bucket and does the 
entire job for me.  I try and offer Sandra a reward, cigarette? beer?, but 
she declines.  haha, just kidding.  Rebel's mane looks very cool indeed.

The sun sets, I feed my horse, grab a couple of beers (bear with me) and go 
visit James and Ginny in their air conditioned trailer.  They were with me at 
the SC ride and helped me through that difficult time; I'll never forget 
their kindness.  They might regret helping me since I keep visiting them 
after that ordeal.

They actually let me in the door, and we all sit down and chit chat.  Somehow 
we get on a topic that I've considered writing about but never have the 
nerve.  The title of the story that I never will write about is called, 
"Adultery Visits Ridecamp."  The three of us are friends with two ridecampers 
committing this heinous crime and, I'm afraid, we do talk about it more than 
we should.  Jokes are made along the lines, "they seem to be spending most of 
their free time in the saddle."  haha.

James is very upset about the whole thing because James has morals and this 
act conflicts with them big time.  Ginny and I decide that the whole thing 
needs to die, to end.  Since it's already been consummated it can't be 
annulled, so death is the only solution.  The other option will hurt too many 
innocent people.

James cracks me up cause he's always asking me, "You gonna write about that?" 
 He knows I probably will.  I try and change the subject to a much safer one: 
politics.  Seems like I'm the only Clinton fan in the room and I make an 
attempt at defending the indefensible.  Jame's morals kick in and he deflates 
my argument with his own rationale of why he won't miss ole Bill.  I still 
say Bubba has charisma, charm, and he rewrote the book on the one subject I 
won't write about.

I stay at James and Ginny's way too long, drink too many beers and Ginny 
finally lets me know it's time to go.  James and Ginny get my ridecamp couple 
of the year award; they both ride 50's together (slow 50's) and love each 
other dearly.  As I'm walking towards my tent I glance at my watch and notice 
it's almost midnight.  

I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.  I have to exit the tent a 
couple times to relieve myself.  One time Rebel and I do this in unison; the 
sound he makes is much louder and drowns out mine.  He and I have already 
started to bond.

I get up at 5 AM to feed Rebel.  Beet pulp, with a lot of water, and grain 
mixed together.  Right before we leave I'll syringe a concoction of yogurt 
and electrolytes, twice, into his mouth.  Gut sounds will be plentiful today 
or I'll pull.

I'm glad I'm up early cause I haven't a clue as to where all my tack is 
located.  As I'm wandering around my campsite, searching with my flashlight 
for my helmet, saddle, fanny-pack, etc., I discover I have one heck of a 
headache.  Now where did that come from?  I pop a couple aspirin and throw 
the bottle in my carry all.  It's going to be a very long day!