Ponder: Riding Lessons

Riding Lessons ©2004 is written by Sara Gruen, the same author who wrote Water for Elephants ©2006. I chose to read Riding Lessons because I very much liked Water for Elephants; but I did not care for Riding Lessons nearly as much. 

The environment and background information in this book will definitely appeal to horse lovers. The author indubitably had an in depth knowledge of the subject. Riding Lessons contains an excellent description of equestrian terms and practices. But the main character, Annemarie, is repeatedly incompetent, and avoids conflict at all costs, even when it is necessary to resolve problems. Annemarie procrastinates to a ridiculous extent. She was such a dingbat that I found it hard to enjoy the book. She struggles in her relationship with her teenage daughter, is barely speaking to her mother, and is divorced from her husband. She nearly drives her parents' horse breeding business into bankruptcy. 

I think my favorite characters were Highland Harry and his brother Highland Hurrah, two uniquely striped horses. I read this book several months ago and conveniently "forgot" to blog about it. Now it is faint in my memory except for my 2 star rating. Amazon readers gave it 4 stars. Why? Perhaps because of the intricacies and accuracies of the view within the horse industry, certainly not because of character development.

★★☆☆☆ Ok, not great; some redeeming features; I finished it

Half Moon Bay 49th Anniversary

Wednesday, September 25th and Thursday, September 26th Frank and I spent overnight at the Half Moon Bay Inn to celebrate our 49th wedding anniversary on September 27th. Half Moon Bay is a quaint little town approximately 50 miles south west of our Livermore home. It is known for the crowds that gather just north of Half Moon Bay to watch surfers in the huge, 25-to-60-foot crest maverick waves in the November to March months and for the annual Art and Pumpkin Festival in October. We have frequented the popular pumpkin festival in the past, enduring the bumper to bumper snake of traffic inching its way down the one access road into the town. We no longer have the patience for that congested trek, but this time we were there in the quieter time of year, without the crowds. The Half Moon Bay Inn is downtown on Main Street.

The last time we were in Half Moon Bay was in 2016 for Frank's 68th birthday. I had noted that distinctive purple bench in front of the Half Moon Bay Inn and said to Frank that we needed to stay at that inn someday. He remembered, and we booked a room for two nights mid-week. The room we stayed in was titled Colossal King. Per the HMB website

Indulge yourself with a stay in our colossal king room – our most spacious and elegant at the Inn. This bright and airy room overlooks Main Street and features a luxurious king bed and beautiful furnishings including two plush arm chairs and a large writing desk. The large marble bathroom features a shower.

When we entered the room I was pleasantly surprised to see a huge bouquet of red flowers, roses and carnations. When I read the card I saw that they were from Frank. He was pleased with my reaction but also a bit annoyed that whoever took his order got the notecard wrong. It congratulated us on our 40th wedding anniversary. I laughed. I knew he knew better!

One deciding feature for choosing this particular room was the two plush arm chairs. We relaxed in them reading or just soaking in the ambiance of the street below. Another use for one of the chairs, however, was also that Frank pushed it up against the bed. The bed was too high for me to climb into without some sort of boost. I am beginning to think this elevation choice is a design trend oblivious to the needs of short and/or old people!

There is a restaurant called It's Italia adjacent to the inn and we ate there out first night. I had filet mignon with roasted asparagus and Frank had a seafood special with haddock, shrimp, mussels over garlic mashed potatoes. Both were excellent. My appetite has been down of late but I relished every last bite. To quote a line from the classic 1972 Alka Seltzer commercial, "I can't believer I ate the whole thing!" 

Over the next two days we wandered in and out of the crafts and novelties shops, picking up a few trinkets for Christmas presents. We cruised some of the back roads of the town, straining for a glimpses of the beach from the comfort of our car. We did not park and trudge through long stretches of sand to reach the water, but both of us were in agreement with that decision. We were having a nice low key time looking at man-made creations and were content to view nature from a distance. The art work on the streets was enjoyable also, be it the murals on the buildings or the metal sculptures. We'd then retreat to the comfort of our room to read or nap. 

A bit of a bummer this trip, but not enough to deter us from relaxation, was Frank's double vision. He is having a flareup of his Occular Myasthenia Gravis, an autoimmune disease, and is currently in a phase of gradually adjusting the dosage of his medication for it. Ocular Myasthenia Gravis only affects the muscles that move the eyes and eyelids. The symptoms of ocular myasthenia gravis include double vision (seeing two images instead of one), trouble focusing, and drooping eyelids. Coping during his medication adjustment, Frank creatively puts a stickie note over one lens of his eyeglasses so he is only using one eye to read. Necessity being the mother of invention and all that, our attitude remained up beat. Ya can't get through 49 years without some hiccups. And Frank could no longer gripe about me being a back seat driver. I was the one behind the wheel for this adventure.