Before writing the memoirs ...

Cocoa, Humility and 6 Words:

Last night I couldn't sleep. It was 2 a.m. I made cocoa. I dipped a homemade bun into it and drank it at my computer ... and then lay awake with a belly ache a while longer. When I finally fell asleep I dreamed till morning.

It was a humiliating dream. I was to ride in a dressage contest with children. They all knew what they were doing. I couldn't even find my pony. And what was I supposed to wear? And where were we to perform? And what were the parameters of the display? I caught glimpses of children performing intricate, well choreographed sequences, and felt despair. Even when I was riding every day, I never got that far in dressage. I decided to perform the sequence for the first dressage test I ever rode. Fortunately I woke up before I had to actually perform.

This morning Kerry asked me to write my life in 6 words. That is less than a word per decade. It is very easy to slip into the old habit of dwelling on the ugly childhood, the years before 11 especially. But if I were to use a word per decade or thereabouts, I would have only one word for that first 11 years. How to encapsulate all of that in one word? I will work on this and give you my life in 6 words later.

I will have to fit it in around the daily chores of vaccuuming up sand, scooping poop, walking dogs, and combing fur. And today I have to wash and vaccuum the car as well.