Thursday's Camper Story
Focus Achieves Purpose

The air was thick with anticipation as the jockeys waited in the starting gates, the racehorses prancing beneath their saddles, impatient to start.
In gate 5, Stargazer’s nostrils flared as she eyed the track in front of her through the bars of the gate..
In gate 3, Blazin Raizin felt his heart pounding in his ears, his fine head raised as he gathered his strength for the start...
Bang!
The horses sprang onto the track as the pistol fired, every muscle straining forward as the jockeys urged them. As they rounded the track for the first time, Blazin was three lengths ahead of the others; no surprise to the roaring crowd or media, given his recent winning streak and excellent practice times.
As Blazin tore down the track, he saw the bright silk banners hanging above the bleachers flapping in the wind, the people leaning over the fence, shaking their fists, jumping up & down..he heard the deafening roar of the crowd, the thunder of hoof beats behind him, the squeal of the loudspeaker as the announcer gave his moment-to-moment account of who was winning..
As Blazin noticed the crowd, his stride faltered. The more he looked at the blurred faces and colorful streaks, the louder the crowd’s roar became. He heard the pounding hoofbeats getting closer, and knew he was losing his lead......
Stargazer ran. She felt the track under her hooves, felt the jockey on her back urging her on, felt her own blood rushing through her veins. Her mind was blank except for one thought: Win. Ahead of her, she saw an opening, and she made her move. As she streaked through the horses the crowd leapt to their feet and let loose a deafening cheer. Stargazer heard them as if underwater, like a sound from far away, and pressed on. The other horses fought to keep their positions as she maneuvered toward the front of the pack, but their jockey’s waving arms were only a blur in the corner of her eye, and she pressed on. She caught up with Blazin as they rounded the last curve of the race, and at that moment an airplane flew overhead loudly, leaving a white path in the sky. As Blazin glanced up at the distracting noise, Stargazer rallied the last of her strength to surge past him and over the finish line!



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Wednesday's Camper Story
Patience

Jonah and his Mom stood in line with the other children waiting for their chance to ride the beautiful show horse in the big arena. Jonah hopped around trying to get a better view of the front of the line.
“Mom!”, he exclaimed, “When will it be my turn?”
Every year on the last night of the county fair, the children were invited to come for free pony rides. The eager children would line up for their chance to get close to Pal, the chestnut quarter horse who had won so many ribbons he had become somewhat of a town legend.
“Why is it taking so long?”, he whined as he munched a handful of cotton candy.
“Jonah, the other kids were here first. You‘ll get your chance; just wait quietly!”, his mother gently said in a gentle voice.
Jonah frowned and kicked his shoe into the dirt, sending a spray of gravel flying through the air several feet. In the arena, a toddler squealed with delight as her father lifted her into the saddle, blonde pigtails bobbing as she bounced , waving to the crowd.
“How come I always have to wait for cool stuff?”, he muttered. “This is stupid.......Mom! How much longer?” Jonah complained as he tugged at her jacket
“Shhh...stop, Jonah!”, his mother whispered. “ You’re being rude!”
Jonah opened his mouth to argue, then stopped as a shadow fell over the ground in front of him and two dusty boots stepped into view. His eyes traveled up past the faded jeans, fancy belt buckle, and western shirt to meet the steady gaze of a cowboy.
He felt his cheeks flush pink with shame as he realized the man had been standing nearby and had obviously overheard his behavior.
“You know, son, you could stand to learn a thing or two about patience - if it’s been hard for you to wait, think about this: for the past hour, Pal there has been putting up with being poked, prodded, bounced on, and squealed at. Look at him; he’s a champion - way above this pony ride stuff. But he has quietly stood and there for an hour and let these kids ride him. So take a good look at Pal and you’ll see what patience looks like.”, the cowboy said matter-of-factly. Then, with a wink and a nod at Jonah, he turned and walked away.

iMosaic

For the past couple of days, I've been a part of an online conversation about creating community through blogging, forums, email, chats, newsletters, etc. In the near future I will likely be moving my blog from Blogger to iMosaic, and when/if I do, I'll keep you informed of the changes that will bring..

My children are obsessed with vacuum attachments: just today they've turned them into airplanes, swords, horses, bikes, moustaches, loudspeakers, and even Jesus-on-the-cross..

My adventure of the day is set to occur this afternoon once the girls are down for their nap when I attempt to give Aslan, my 800lb. yearling colt, his first bath. What do you get when you combine the elements of : an unpredictable, agile horse..a fifty foot hose, Mane'n'Tail shampoo, potential for injury(to me, not him), lots of mud, and a mentally challenged barn cat with no sense of boundaries who will undoubtedly insert himself into the fray?
F U N.

Earlier, Willow announced " I don't like having this many toys."
I told her that she was welcome to sort through them and choose some to get rid of. She went away happy, saying she'd put them in a pile on the bedroom floor.

From where I'm sitting in my living room, I can see a pile of toys on her floor...Ginger's toys.
Hmm.

www.sytekdavies.com <---------Check out their music - they just released their new cd, From The Shadow of the Citadel !