What do you do when you have a packing list, most of the clothes you intend to bring on your trip are clean, and you are practically exploding with anticipation?
I'm going to summer camp in just a smidgemeter under three weeks. This will be my third year there and let me just say, I've been eagerly awaiting this trip for well over a month (when I booked it) because to be honest, I consider the camp to be one of the most beautiful places on earth. And that's saying something, considering I've been to quite a few beautiful places.
I've got every outfit for the seven days I'll be there planned. I'm setting aside clothes I intend to wear while I'm there so that I don't have to do any last minute laundry (because speaking from experience, doing laundry the day before a trip massively sucks). I know already that packing for me is likely to take all day, and I have an event the day before I leave, so I know exactly what day I'm going to use exclusively for packing. Over-planned? Okay, yeah, I tend to overthink everything, so I may-or-may-not have over-planned things just a tiny bit.
And of course, that over-planning has lead to an insane amount of excitement.
I really want to be packing right now. I want to be sitting on my bedroom floor putting my clothes into Ziploc baggies and putting them in a suitcase. But that would be crazy. I still have three weeks to get the last bits of laundry done, obtain bug spray and sunscreen (essentials where I'm going), and just generally prepare. I have three weeks to obsess over which horse I'm going to be riding.
Speaking of horses, I get the feeling that I probably shouldn't be allowed around horses! LOL! Why? For some reason, every time I've ridden a horse at this particular camp, I've injured myself in some way. My first year, I had my toes stepped on multiple times while walking out to the ring because the horse I was on was very food-oriented (read: oh, look! Yummy clover!). And then last year, I actually had to jump off a horse!
Freaked out? Excited?
Good, because I'm about to tell you how it happened.
They split us up into two groups on the first day; the first group would ride, and the second group would do a ground lesson, which involved learning something like tacking a horse, horse colors, basic horse anatomy, etc. Then, the second group would ride and the first group would do a ground lesson. I was in the second group.
Let me just preface the story by saying that my horse and I did not get along, mostly because of my own anxieties (I was so sure that I was going to get the horse I'd ridden the first year I was at camp) and because I was too stubborn to take my counselors up on their offer to let us change horses.
So one day, the first group was washing a horse and the second group was riding. I was riding past where they were washing the horse and then suddenly, my horse spooked and reared up.
I am not a particularly experienced horseback rider, and I certainly don't know what to do with a rearing horse! So somehow, I managed to dig up some information about how to properly jump off a horse in about two seconds and I jumped off as fast as I could.
According to some bystanders, I almost landed on my feet, but not quite.
I didn't hurt myself too badly; I just bruised my tailbone and the fall knocked the wind out of me. But it definitely shook me up! And who doesn't get shaken up after falling/jumping off a horse?
But I managed to get back on about ten minutes later. I'm very grateful that my mom always tells me that if you fall off a horse, you should get back on.
I've cried at closing campfires. I've eaten walking tacos (which are really good, by the way). I've gotten yelled at by my counselors because my cabin talked too much at night. So basically, the rituals of camp.
And now that's coming round again.
I can't wait!
Love,
Glitter Girl
