abigail414's diaryland diary
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Out in Indio
This is a cellphone photo of a date palm orchard in Indio. On Sunday I visited both the SW Art Fair and Indio Winter Circuit Horse Show - while walking around I overheard someone say the whole area used to be date palm orchards a hundred years ago. Well, as recently as the 1960's, Indio was the 'date capital of the world', with signs all over for 'date shakes' at little mom & pop stands. We would stop en route to Lake Havasu, and I mostly remember it being damn hot in a 1964 Impala with no air conditioning - I don't think I was that fond of dates, but the ice cream part was great. Now it is a sprawling town with new upscale and old downscale housing - and occasional remnants of date palm orchards on the outskirts.
Not much to say about the art fair - but the Grand Prix horse show was great (sorry, no zoom lens on the cellphone). Just walking among the barns is a tonic - the musty smells of horses, hay, manure, and saddle leather are among my favorites. Participants included investment owners and professional riders (the Grand Prix purse was $75,000), and hundreds of young girls with their horses (taking this very seriously, like I did at that age). Some of the horses are huge, as are the fences that they jump. Out of 30 entries, 8 did it flawlessly, resulting in a �jump off�, which is where the real excitement begins - the fastest horse with a perfect score wins. Jumping is both about control and letting go - the rider maintains control to get in the best position before a jump, and then lets go and melds with the horse while it jumps. The 'jump off' pushes that edge of control, giving the horse a little more head, and the winner �Furioso� was so lightning-fast that his Italian rider was hanging onto his mane (while wearing the proper British hunt attire, of course). Furioso means �mad crazy� in Italian (and is my cat Orlando's last name), so I was rooting for him from the beginning and he definately had a mad crazy rodeo style winning ride.
I could go on about the control letting go mad crazy part of all of this, which is what really appeals to me - but this Thursday I have an appointment with the tax man, so better get my information together (then maybe I'll strap my skates on for a trip around the block).
10:52 a.m. - 2006-02-06
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