You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.

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Remember, if you are standing in line at poll closing time, you can still vote.

The other horse, named Danny, had been to many events before, but wasn’t nearly as settled as the green horse. He wouldn’t stand in the infield with strange horses, so we finally had to tell the rider to warm him up in a separate area, and then slip in as one of the last riders in the class, when there were no longer a lot of horses at the entrance gate. At one point, he was acting sufficiently obnoxious that I told the kid to do an emergency dismount, and then took him into a round pen so I could chase him around for a while.

Unfortunately, both horses did quite well. Danny and Indy each received one blue ribbon, one or two red ribbons, and one or two white ribbons. (This corresponds to first, second and fourth places.) The classes were large, so we were quite pleased. (Not to mention astonished, since neither kid had shown before.) The unfortunate part is now these kids think horse shows are fun, they always give you lots of ribbons, and will want to go again.

Sunday, I took my mother, who recently moved to Colorado Springs, to mass at her parish church. Afterward, we went to Noodles for lunch, and then drove through Garden of the Gods and Manitou Springs. This is an area that I rarely go in tourist season (especially on the weekends) but it wasn’t as congested as I feared. Garden of the Gods is always spectacular, and you can see quite a lot from the car. Manitou Springs is touristy and quaint: I rarely go there except to eat at Adam’s Mountain Cafe, which is the place I take vegetarians when they come to visit.

The greatest challenge was trying to figure out how to take three types of medication, all of which should be taken with food, without taking all three at the same time. Taking all three at the same time, even with food, upset my stomach. I also ran into another side effect on Saturday, when the muscle relaxant gave me a severe headache. I stopped taking it at that point.

Currently, I am taking the anti-inflammatory twice a day, and one pain killer tablet at night before I go to sleep. Since I continue to improve every day, this seems to be a good approach.

This most recent brush with drug modern medicine reminds me of why I so frequently pursue home care for minor problems. Since I so frequently seem to have side effects with drugs, it seems pointless to go to the doctor and get expensive prescriptions in which the cure seems worse than the disease.

Lily was a little full of herself since it was thirty degrees cooler than it had been the previous day. However, she fairly cooperative so I wasn’t too worried. Then a big noisy truck went by and Lily jumped three feet in the air. I went a lot higher and was not square over her back when I came down. I hung halfway on for what seemed like a long time, before I hit the ground.

I lay groaning (in an embarrassing fashion) on the ground for a while, trying to figure out what was hurt, and already starting to worry about the jury duty. I quit moaning, and very cautiously rolled to my feet, supporting my back as I got up. My trainer came over and said I had broken my stirrup. Lily was standing quietly a few feet away. No, I said, the safety release feature of the stirrups, purchased after I had badly strained an ankle coming off of Hap many years ago, had given way. In approximately ten years, they had never released before. That had probably saved me another strained ankle, if not a broken leg.

I was feeling fairly good at that point, then took a step and cried out. Something was very wrong in my lower back. “I don’t think I can get back on,” I told my trainer, and she gave Lily to her working student to longe and put away. My trainer asked me if she call 911. I was appalled at the idea. She asked me if I wanted to go to the emergency room. I didn’t want to do that either. I told her I wanted to see what rest, ice and aspirin would do and hobbled into the house. My trainer had three very young, inexperienced riders for her camp, so she couldn’t hover over me, which would have been her usual course of action.

I have always been a wuss about pain, and was feeling very sorry for myself. I felt a little less stressed when I called the jury duty number and found out I had been excused from my obligation and was no longer on standby. I left a very tearful message for Jack on his answering machine at work. By the time he called back, I had no desire to drive myself home, so he said he would come and get me.

By then my trainer was back in the house, strongly of the opinion that I ought to see a doctor even if I didn’t want to go to the emergency room. The pain was getting worse, despite rest and ice, and by the time Jack got there, I was starting to consider it since I hurt both sitting and laying down. I couldn’t face the wait in an emergency room, so Jack called the medical practice he goes to, and they gave me an afternoon appointment. I no longer have a doctor, due to insurance plan changes, and not having needed one for several years.

The ride to the office was an ordeal, since there was no way I could find a comfortable position while seated. I filled out the paperwork standing up at the doctor’s office. I was impressed that I didn’t wait very long in the waiting room.

I describe the fall to the doctor, and how both my trainer and I thought I had been hurt getting hung up as I came out of the saddle, and not when I hit the ground. He decided I didn’t necessarily need xrays, and prescribed a muscle relaxant, an anti-inflammatory, and a pain killer.

Within an hour of taking them, I was able to lay comfortably in bed and read. I was no longer gasping at every unwary move that used my lower back. I took another muscle relaxant and pain killer in the middle of the night, and woke up almost pain free this morning.

I feel good enough now to go out and do stuff, but Jack thinks I need another day of rest, and my mother thinks I shouldn’t be driving until I get used to the drugs. I suppose they have a point.