livin' on the EDGE

Today was horseback riding in the Andes day. A strange old man in a little red car picked us up in Santiago and drove us out to a canyon in the mountains. We rode around for a couple hours behind a little Chilean caballero. Of course, I got the slow horse who needed to stop and snack on various kinds of foliage along the way. I suppose I'd be hungry too if I had to haul my ass up a mountain. Anyway, riding the horses back down the mountain--a very steep, rocky one with 90+ degree turns on the edge of cliffs and foot wide paths--was one of the scarier experiences of my life, up there with doing upside down circles in a three seater 1940's bi-plane and driving to high school every day in my parents' 1985 Dodge Caravan with the mysterious exploding tires. In hindsight though, I think I'd prefer to leave my life in the hands (er...hooves) of a horse than those of a human. They're trained to follow a path and not die, and they aren't going to be distracted by crazy drunk horsies or hot young fillies trotting down the sidewalk. Speaking of mortality, let's all have a moment of silence and make the sign of the cross for Gina's First iPod, who bought the farm yesterday after just four months of loyal service. You will be missed, darling, especially on my upcoming 13 hour flight homeward.