Sunday, December 17, 2023 – Clean Up Day Plus A Disappointing Discovery

Hey Darlin',
I had broken out the eggnog and bourbon to celebrate the end of the ride yesterday, and has a bit more than I should have, so woke up a little hung over this morning. After feeding the horses, I was just trying to relax, then Jo called about picking up the water tubs and cleaning up at Helen's so the work still wasn't finished. Rather than wait for Jo, I headed out and picked up all the water tubs and the event signs along the road. When I got back, I noticed that my heavy canvas tarp that I had used to wrap up the ride alfalfa bale was missing! In all of the fourteen years I've been on the road and in horse camps, I was proud to say that I had NEVER had anything stolen in all that time. It is so disappointing that of all of the places I've been, it was Goethe where my first thing was taken. I use that tarp all the time, and it's very difficult to replace because the only place I've been able to buy it was at a chain store in the upper midwest, and it wasn't cheap! The bale had been unwrapped and left behind, but the tarp was gone. So disappointing! I just don't understand how people can steal like that. Sigh... I headed over to Helen's, picking up signs along the way, only to find that Helen had done most of the yard cleanup. Jo arrived shortly after that, and we finished packing up, then taking the tubs back to the folks we borrowed them from, then went down to Willards for a quick nosh before coming back to camp. I felt like I was crashing this morning, but having more jobs to do forced me to push forward, but I'm definitely taking the day off tomorrow. We had so much rain from this last storm that even normally dry trails are underwater, so I need to let it dry up and drain a bit before heading out there on Flash. Settled down to a movie, but I'm so tired I won't be long out of bed. Good night, baby! Love you!