Memory Lane Friday - 7th Grade

*Note: Here I am with today's Memory Lane Friday post. Due to some computer/internet issues, I wasn't able to post earlier. But here it is, finally!*

This week, our Memory Lane Friday theme is "7th Grade." I don't remember any specific thing about 7th grade, other than really enjoying and doing well in my English class, sorta-kinda enjoying math and science, and taking piano and riding lessons after school.

What I do remember in detail, though, is the summer after 7th grade. This was my second summer at Culver's Upper Camp. This is where I ended up going to high school, but they have various camps during the summer, and they kept us kids super busy all the time. For those of us in Upper Camps (ages 13-17), it was 6-weeks, where we had 4 class periods in the morning and a couple in the afternoon. Then we had various activities in the afternoon and evening.

My second summer there (between 7th and 8th grades) was a blast! I ended up having my horsemanship classes in the morning - 2 back-to-back (each horsemanship class being 2 class periods each). Then in the afternoon, I had a photography class (also a 2-period class).

Looking back on it, this was an awesome set-up, and not just because I got to do two of my favorite hobbies. I'd ride in the morning, all morning, basically, and wrap up just as it was getting super hot. Then I'd head back to my dorm, shower, then head to lunch with my "deck" mates (we girls were set up in "decks" - each deck occupying a particular dorm - and had a whole leadership system, similar to the boys' military system). Then I'd spend the afternoon learning a bit about photography (back in the days of actual film), then heading out taking photos. The best part of taking my photography class in the afternoon? I'd spend the hottest part of the day in the cool, dark darkroom developing film and creating prints.

Anyway, I remember that my instructor for my second block of riding was CSM John "Sarge" Hudson (who was also there during the regular school year). He was an Army vet, and great horseman. While he was hard on the troopers (the boys in the troop, which is the cavalry unit), he was pretty lenient with me.

As soon as we all assembled in the office, Sarge would give us our horse assignments. If he sensed I didn't particularly agree with my horse assignment, he'd ask me who I wanted to ride (usually a horse named Black Lightning), and typically agreed to let me ride that horse instead of my original assignment.

Sometimes we'd ride in the ring. Other times, we'd head out to the pasture where there were cross-country jumps and we'd ride around. Usually, if we were out in the pasture, he'd let me go off and jump whatever I wanted to jump, while he taught the troopers basic horsemanship. (He'd keep an eye on me, though, and sometimes call me over to demonstrate one thing or another to the less experienced riders in the class.) And once in a while, he'd take us on a trail ride - sometimes through the woods, but occasionally ending up at the Dairy Queen in town. Half of us would dismount while the other half would stay mounted and hold horses. The dismounted half of the class would head into the DQ and get ice cream for all of us, then we'd all stand around on the grass, enjoying our ice cream.

I remember a specific day when it started pouring as we were putting our horses away after class. I didn't have an umbrella, rain jacket, poncho, or anything that would keep me dry as I walked across campus to my dorm. Sarge came up to me as I stood in the doorway looking out at the sheets of rain pouring down. He told me to follow him to the office, which I did. He got a big, black, plastic trash bag out of the utility closet (one that hadn't been used, obviously). He cut a head-sized hole in the bottom, a hole in each side, and slipped it over my head. Voila! A poncho! And just like that, he sent me on my way.

And for photography later that afternoon? Since it was still raining on and off throughout the day, my instructor sent me to the gym so I could take some indoor "action" photos of an intramural basketball game. I spent most of the time taking photos, and then about 45 minutes in the darkroom.By the way, I had an old Nikon camera that my dad had given me, something similar to this.

The Riding Hall at Culver, circa May 2009. I took this during my last "Alumni Weekend," which was my 20-year reunion.

Detail of the Riding Hall, circa 1988-89 school year. Note the crest, which is the BHT (or Black Horse Troop) crest.

This is Black Lightning, one of my favorite Culver horses, circa 1988-89 school year. Sarge said he was an Appaloosa. He had a spot on his belly, and one near the base of his tail, plus the face markings.

So there you have it. Not specifically from 7th grade, but during the summer immediately following 7th grade. I think that's close enough.

Memory Lane Friday is hosted by Lisa at Two Bears Farm. Please click on the button below to read her entry, as well as other contributors' posts:

I'm disappointed

Yes, I'm disappointed.

I mentioned back in late September that I'd entered a photography contest (check out my "The suspense is already driving me nuts!" post for all the details).

The contest's online rules FAQ page stated that the winners' photos would be published in New Mexico Magazine's January 2011 issue, to be delivered to subscribers around December 10th, and on newsstands around December 15th.

Winners, by the way, would receive e-mails around December 10th, verifying mailing addresses for prize delivery (with prizes being sent out in late December).

So, for the past few days . . . okay, okay, since around December 1st, I've been checking my e-mail a few times a day, just waiting and hoping for one of those e-mails, verifying my mailing address. As the days crept closer and closer to December 10th, I found myself checking my e-mail more often throughout the day.

And each time, I failed to see any such e-mail.

But I kept telling myself that It's not December 10th yet. Maybe I'll get something on the 10th.

Then December 10th rolled around - still no e-mail. I knew what this meant - none of my photographs had been chosen.

However, I still held out hope that maybe, just maybe, one of my photos had been chosen, for Honorable Mention perhaps.

So I ran out to the mailbox in hopes of finding my January 2011 issue.

Nope. I had Christmas cards (for which I was thankful), some junk mail, and that was it. No magazine, yet.

It was only Friday, so I still held out hope that the magazine would arrive on Saturday. You know, because the magazine must be somewhere on some sort of Post Office transportation making its way from Santa Fe, New Mexico to my snow-covered Iowa mailbox. And, because I inferred that the December 10th delivery date was simply an approximation, as in "on or about" December 10th.

But that didn't explain why I hadn't yet gotten one of those "we need to verify your mailing address so we can send you your prize" e-mails . . . you know, since e-mail doesn't get stuck on a truck, or in weather-related traffic.

Throughout the day, I would occasionally check my e-mail, still hoping for that e-mail. But it never came.

At some point that afternoon, I stopped obsessing about it because there was nothing I could do about it.

Saturday morning finally rolled around, and what did I do, first thing? Yep, I checked my e-mail. Still no e-mail.

After Livie and I went out for a bit to get her hair cut and to run some errands, we came back for lunch, and I returned to the computer to . . . yep, check my e-mail again. Nothing.

Then I ran outside in the freezing rain to check the mailbox. The mail hadn't come yet, even though I'd seen the mail truck down the street.

At this point, I finally resigned myself to the fact that it was true - none of my photos had been chosen - and I stopped checking my e-mail every couple hours.

When yesterday's mail finally came, much later in the afternoon, there was still no magazine. 

I began to think back to last year's winners. It dawned on me that while my photos definitely had that, "Hey, that's cool" aspect about them, they didn't elicit a "Wow! That is absolutely spectacular!" response, like last year's winning photos had.

And you know what? I guess that means I need more practice. I mean, I haven't taken a photography class, or even a general art 101 class, for that matter, since I'd been a student at Culver Girls Academy. And it's been just as long since I'd been a part of a photography club, like I was at Culver.

So I guess that once I start grad school (for my M.A. in English), I could maybe enroll in a basic photography 101 class, partly for fun, and partly to refresh my memory. Because I know all those photography skills I learned in photography classes and photography club must be somewhere in my little gray cells, still. Right?

And, in case you're curious, here are the photos I entered.

I took this photo from my front yard one summer day.

Clouds rolling into Alamogordo, before the storm hits.

I took this photo from my back yard, right after moving into our new house in Alamogordo.

A summer storm hovers over the Sacramento Mountain Range, Alamogordo, NM.

This was taken from my back yard on a late December afternoon.

Winter has dusted the Sacramento Mountain Range, Alamogordo, NM.

Here's a famous Santa Fe view, taken when Andrew and I spent a day in Santa Fe.

St. Francis Cathedral Basilica, Santa Fe, NM

Here's a view of White Sands National Monument. I took this photo on a windy, February afternoon.

Sand dune, White Sands National Monument, outside Alamogordo, NM

So I didn't win anything, not even an Honorable Mention prize. And for that, I'm disappointed. 

But you have to admit the photos are cool. Right? 

And now I can at least say that I entered a big photo contest with hundreds of entries.

(And since I still haven't gotten my January 2011 issue yet, (maybe Monday) I'm still curious about which photos did win.)

"Belated" Birthday Post

Okay, so my birthday was last month, and I'm just now posting a few photos, hence the "'Belated' Birthday Post."

We went to my parents' place to celebrate my birthday with them and most importantly, to include my Oma. My parents' place is about 130 miles west of where we live, by the way, so it's just over 2 hours away by car.

To start off my birthday, on our way out of town, we'd gone through a Starbucks drive-thru, where Andrew had gotten me a salted caramel hot chocolate. Yum-o! (Livie got a kids' hot chocolate, and shared a couple mini vanilla scones with me in the car.)

So . . . my mom had gotten a cake for me. She'd originally had me call the bakery to request what I wanted and she'd pay for it and pick it up on my birthday. Well, somehow, the order got changed around. While I didn't get the cake decorated in the shape of a couple stacked birthday presents like I'd requested, I still got a great looking cake. Livie loved all the pink and purple flowers, by the way. (Most importantly, it tasted good(!) - white cake with raspberry filling and buttercream frosting!)

 Here's the view from the side, so you can see the cute little dots.

Oma liked it, too. She couldn't believe I was turning 40! She remembers me as a tiny baby, being carried off a plane by my mom, when we returned from a US Army base in Germany. Oma was so excited to finally see me, she ran up the steps to get me, at which point, she says she never let me go.

Here's Oma as she inspects the cake, reminiscing back 4 decades when she became the "President of the Pink Bundle Fan Club."

Now, on to the dinner menu: homemade tacos, refried beans, Spanish rice, guacamole, and all the regular taco fixings (shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, shredded Monterrey-Jack cheese).

It was a delicious dinner and totally hit the spot. I could eat that meal once a week. But since it's high in calories, and besides, I simply cannot seem to get the knack of making Oma's tacos, I only get to eat this meal if someone is kind enough to make it for me.

We ended up eating in the formal dining room - my parents, Andrew, Liv, Oma, Naná, and Monsignor B (who performed the wedding ceremony for Andrew and me).

It was a nice way to celebrate - with my family, as we ate tasty food.

I have to admit that a number of years ago, I promised myself that Andrew and I would spend my 40th birthday by having a long weekend to ourselves in Vegas. That plan ended up not being feasible. (Maybe that weekend will happen for our 10th wedding anniversary, but we'll see.)

But you know what? We had a fun time with the way my birthday turned out, and that is is what's important, right?

Oh, and I let Liv take a photo of me with my camera. 

Yes, it's blurry; she was right up in my face. With a little work and lots of practice, one day she'll be really good at photography! But the best part of her taking my picture is that it was a funny moment. AND . . . she actually likes taking pictures, almost as much as I do!

The suspense is already driving me nuts!

Okay, a couple months ago, Andrew reminded me that New Mexico Magazine holds an annual photo contest for amateur photographers. Any photos entered, by the way, must have been taken in The Land of Enchantment.

He then casually mentioned that I took a few really cool looking photos while we lived in New Mexico, that I should consider submitting them.

Hmmm. Yes, I had to agree that I thought they were cool, and obviously, he thought they were cool. By the way, if you scroll up to the top of the blog, you'll see the photo that inspired him to encourage me to enter the contest.

So I found the contest rules, and went to work going through all my New Mexico photos (hundreds of them), to see if there were any that even remotely stood a chance among other more talented, more experienced photographers' entries.

Well, after a lot of deliberation, I decided that the storm-clouds over the Sacramento Mountains (seen above) would be one entry (of the 6 possible entries I was allowed).

I had another photo that I thought was awesome . . . I took it at White Sands National Monument one brilliant February afternoon. It's a landscape photo, the "subject" being a snow-white, rippled sand dune against an amazingly vivid blue sky. That was photo #2.

Then one more of the Sacramento Mountains on a somewhat snowy winter afternoon, with the beautiful, late afternoon's golden light turning everything rusty.

Plus one of more storm clouds . . . just the storm clouds with the brilliant blue sky (again) as a background.

And finally photo #5 was of the St. Francis Cathedral in Santa Fe.

(That's right, I only chose 5, though I was allowed to send up to 6.)

I followed the instructions in the rules, then sent off the photos and CD with the digital copies to the photo contest address in Santa Fe.

Now all I can do is wait. And wait . . . and wait.

The contest deadline was just a couple days ago, September 27th.

Winners will be announced in early December, according to the rules, with prizes being shipped in late December. In addition to prizes offered for "Grand Prize," "First Prize," "Second Prize," "Third Prize," and "Honorable Mention," the winners' photos will be published in the January 2011 issue of New Mexico Magazine.

So, while I have a feeling that I won't be winning the Grand Prize (or maybe not even 1st, 2nd, or 3rd), I'm hoping that I'll at least get an honorable mention. Of course, it would be AWESOME if I won a category, and I picked what I thought were my best photos, because I want to win.

I'm just starting to doubt my ability because it's been a long time since I've taken any photography classes (the last one being one of Mr. Duff's classes while I was a student at Culver); it's also been a long time since I was a part of the Culver photography club, trying to take artsy photos. I'm a little intimidated because the judges are professional photographers/artists.

Come to think of it, the last time I entered a photo contest was while I was at Culver. I submitted a black and white photo of the Riding Hall, at an angle very similar to this:

Fog-enveloped Riding Hall at Culver Academies, circa 1987

Of course, the photo I submitted was taken one very sunny morning, so there was a lot of contrast between light/dark, with cool shadows.

Anyway, I guess I'm just going nuts from the suspense and having to wait forever (okay, just a couple months) for the results. I just really wanna know if I won something.

Memory Lane Friday (a day late) - A Sporting Event

Okay, I'll play along; I like the idea of Memory Lane Fridays.

I was thinking about what I'd post yesterday and then the next thing I know, it's mid-day Saturday! Oops! Next week, I'll be sure to post (or try to post) on Friday evening after Livie has gone to bed. ;)

Let's see. There are a couple of sporting events that I was thinking about writing about, but I think I've narrowed it down to the one really FUN memory.

Back in the day, I used to be an avid equestrian. I really didn't care much about anything but riding . . . except for maybe photography, art class, and what book we'd get to read next in English. (I was . . . and still am . . . a big ol' bookworm.)

Anyway, while I attended Culver Girls Academy (CGA), I was on the Varsity Jumping Team. We usually had a blast going to various shows in the area. And we'd typically have the Culver Invitational Horse Show (a home show for us) in the spring, in the big outdoor arenas across the street from the riding hall. Riders from around the area (Indiana, Michigan, maybe Illinois, and perhaps other places) would participate in this show. And a horse show judge would come in to fulfill judging duties over the weekend for this show.

It's actually this show that I'm thinking about and fondly remembering - the May 1989 show during my senior year at Culver: just about a month before graduating. I'd actually been on the CGA Varsity Polo team this particular semester. But since I'd been on the Varsity Jumping Team since the spring semester of my freshman year, I had a tremendous urge to ride in Culver's Invitational Horse Show one final year. This would probably be my last big show before heading off to college and not being able to ride regularly, if at all.

So about a month or so before the show, I spoke to my polo coach and told her I was thinking about riding in the show; would she have a problem if I rode with the Varsity Jumpers for that week prior to the show, and then compete that whole weekend? I was so excited when she said go for it.

Meanwhile, I was still going to polo practice, having a blast picking up a new sport. After we tacked up our ponies and headed to the arena, I'd mount up and warm up without stirrups, picking up my stirrups only when we started scrimmaging.

See, I was riding as much as I could without stirrups to get my legs super tight, like steel. I knew I'd be riding in Adult Equitation classes for the first time, and I wanted to be ready.

Oh, a bit of an explanation for those of you who are not familiar with equestrian terms: riders in equitation classes are judged on their form (correct posture while mounted), and how they handle their horses (the more invisible your cues to your horse are, the better). Plus, since I'd already turned 18 in November of 1988, I was no longer able to ride in the Junior equitation classes - it would be Adult classes from here on out.

And of course, I was still practicing with the CGA Equestriennes (the CGA Honor Organization team that performs musical rides). These practices occurred after jumping and polo practices were over. So when I rode with the Equestriennes, I'd ride the whole practice without stirrups.

So after my "show preparation week" with the Varsity Jumpers, I was ready. And I was excited. I really enjoyed showing.

After a full morning of showing, it was now late Saturday afternoon - the first day of showing would be over within a few hours.

Finally, it was time to head into the ring for my first ever Adult Equitation class. I was riding Sir Ebon, a kinda fuzzy horse who was so incredibly smooth to ride - he had gaits that truly felt like you were on a rocking horse. Nice and smoooooth.

Once all the riders were in the ring, the judge had us go through our paces, including taking our feet out of the stirrups and crossing them over the the fronts of our saddle (so they wouldn't bang against our horses' sides each time they took a stride, and probably to ensure no one's feet "accidentally" went back into them prematurely). Since I'd been practicing so much without stirrups, this was a piece of cake. I could've gone on and on without stirrups, even smiling at the judge as Sir Ebon and I trotted past her, neither of us tired at all.

One of my riding instructors (Lt Michael Stahl) was standing by the ring, watching. At one point, he said, "You're doing well. Keep it up and you should place high!"

But, since riding without stirrups does take a lot of practice and is a lot of work to maintain, there is only so long a judge can have a class ride without them. So we eventually got our stirrups back.

Finally, after the judge had seen all she needed to see, all the riders lined up in the center of the ring, with our numbers (on our backs) facing the judge.

It seemed like we were there forever. Finally, after what felt like HOURS (but was only a few minutes - 5-10, tops), the announcer stated over the loudspeaker that we had the results. A lot of times, horse shows will have ribbons for 1st through 6th places. I've occasionally seen bigger shows having ribbons through 8th place. This show had ribbons through 6th. And a person (one of the horse show volunteers) with all six ribbons was standing near the middle of the ring, ready to pass them out to the riders who earned them.

And then the announcer started with 6th place, stating something to the effect of "In 6th place, number __(whatever it was)" and then saying that rider's name. That rider walked up to the volunteer, received his or her ribbon, and exited the ring.

Then 5th place . . . I think I was holding my breath, waiting to hear my number. When the number was announced . . . it was somebody else's.

Waiting for the 4th place announcement . . . more breath holding, and more disappointment that it wasn't me.

When it came to the 3rd place announcement, I was thinking that it was altogether possible that I was in the top three, especially since Lt. Stahl had thought I was doing well enough to place high.

But when they announced the 3rd place rider, it still wasn't me. I took a deep breath, trying to hold back disappointment, and telling myself not to worry about it. That I'd be in other non-equitation classes at this show, other types of classes where I usually performed much better.

So now it was time for the red ribbon - 2nd place. I held my breath, looking at the volunteer with the red 2nd place ribbon and that blue ribbon I wanted so badly. The volunteer was a fellow Culver student; if I remember correctly, I think it was Rosann, a fellow Equestriennes teammate and good friend. She was standing there looking at us, a bunch of riders still left, but only two ribbons remained . . .

. . . and then I couldn't believe it! 2nd place was announced and it still wasn't my number. Suddenly, just before the announcer said the rider's name, I had a panicked butterfly sensation in my stomach! What the heck WAS my number?! I suddenly couldn't remember! Was it me? No, it wasn't. Was it?

Nope. During my momentary confusion, the announcer said someone else's name.

And then I was really disappointed.

But then the 1st place number was called while I once again held my breath, feeling that familiar disappointment again, and wishing it were just all over already . . . and when the number was announced, it was the number I'd kept repeating over and over in my head! It was my number! But I was so surprised, I didn't move at first, not sure if it had really been my number.

Then I heard the announcer say my name, and I was filled with relief and disbelief! I just couldn't believe I'd won! First of all, wow! I'd won an equitation class! That rarely happened (I usually did well in other types of classes). And secondly, it was my first Adult Equitation class! Double wow!

The Varsity Jumping coach, Capt. Chris Kerner, a long time instructor of mine while I was at Culver, was sitting near the gate with the biggest grin I'd ever seen as I rode past. Another instructor, Ms. Leslie Gordon (the Equestriennes and JV Jumping coach), saw his big ol' smile, teasing him about it. And Capt. Kerner's response? "Well, what else would you do if your kid was the best!" That kind of compliment meant as much as the blue ribbon.

I was so excited about this win; it seemed like an unlikely victory and I really appreciated it. After this first day of showing was over, and I'd cared for Sir Ebon and returned him to his stall, I was walking back to my dorm in the twilight. It was during this walk while I was replaying the events of the day, that I came upon one of my English instructors, Mr. Wiley. He saw me in my riding clothes, and asked how I was doing at the show. I was so excited that I just blabbed on and on about the day. He laughed, smiled big, and congratulated me on how well I'd done. I think he must've been surprised because I was usually much more reserved during class, not getting quite so animated, even if we were talking about a book or story I really loved.

As we said our "I'll see you on Monday in class" and goodbyes, I enjoyed the remaining walk back to my dorm, that wonderful spring evening after an exciting day.

(Oh, and by the way . . . I think I still have that blue ribbon somewhere, tucked away with other very important mementos. LOL!)

New to blogging!

Okay, here's post #2.

I want to explain something: I'm just getting used to being a blogger, so bear with me as I figure my way around! My first post was a writing sample from a creative writing class (as I explained in that post). I simply wanted something I knew was good as the first post. ;)

I hope to use this blog to share the fruits of my writing hobby. You know the saying - if you want to be good at something, you need to practice, practice, practice. In my recent creative writing class, the instructor said we needed to practice writing 10 minutes a day, every day. She didn't care what we wrote, just so long as we wrote for 10 minutes a day. She also said it didn't matter if we split it up, 5 minutes here, 5 minutes there . . . just so long as we got into the habit of setting aside the time to get 10 minutes in; and if we went over 10 minutes, all the better!

Oh, and she said it didn't matter if we used one of those nice leather-bound journals, a spiral notebook . . .  whatever we wanted. Just get some words down! I love writing in those nice journals, and I have a couple, which I love using (because there's nothing like using a nice pen on nice paper in a leather-bound book), but I figure blogging will give me just another "excuse" to get more writing time in, you know - while I'm goofing off on the computer.

I also want to share the rekindling of my previous photography hobby. I take lots of photos. And I like to think I have an artistic eye. You know what? I actually used to be in my high school's photography club! So hopefully I can share some photos, too.