Only a man who sees giants can ever stand upon their shoulder.

Happy New Year!!! And all that :) Can't help but think this'll prove to be an interesting year. Certainly if you'd told me last Jan where I'd be THIS Jan and how much would've changed for me to get here, I'm not entirely certain I'd've believed you! I know now what I want to do when I get home, but not yet entirely sure how I'm going to pull it off! hahaha well we shall see. A phrase I came across that suits my thinking today: "Lots of roads lead to Rome, and some of them spend time to save money; others spend money to save time. Some are quite an adventure, while others are safer and less exciting. And some go to a Rome other than the one we associate w/ the Vatican." hahaha -- now some of you will recall my fascination w/ Rome played into this at the very beginning. See this photo http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4225752&l=31f8c&id=823765365 from the original road trip to see what I'm talking about.

Anyways -- after all the fun and games I DID eventually make it back to Southern Pines. Where it's not nearly as warm as it was when I left. Ah well. Miss Sienna was, obviously, spun; no surprise given that she hasn't left her paddock since I left! hahaha Conversely Smokey, who also hasn't done anything since I left, has been awesome. Dressage lesson the first day, stad the second, and today . . . XC!!! Woohoo. That's right -- XC on Jan 2nd. Not half bad :) He's getting much better about the whole gallop and jump thing... Fun fun fun *g*

So the phrase of the day for today, originally spoken by somebody for whom English is not a first language: "When coming downhill to a vertical you need a *chunky* canter". Now your guess is as good as mine as to what word should've been in there, but this image actually really works. You need a short, compact, together canter. Chunky it is! Well it amused me anyways :)