GOBIBLOG #6

Sawasdee Kha Tuk Khon!

(That is how they say “The best of everything to everyone” in Thai. Of course, it’s not written that way. This is the Anglicized version. The alphabet in that country is impossible for a dachshund to understand even though it looks very pretty.)

I guess it’s obvious that Mom has returned from her vacation. Before I get into the meat of this Blog, though, I have an apology to make. In Gobiblog #5, I referred to “Tie Land” as the place that Mom would be visiting. Subsequently, Bruiser, my half brother, chewed up a book on Bangkok that Mom had left on a chair, and in so doing, he discovered that the place she went to is actually spelled Thailand and used to be called Siam. Thailand means Land of Freedom (or something like that) and has nothing to do with Ties. I stand corrected. Sometimes the nuances of people-speak leave me very confused. Dachshund-speak is so much easier to understand because it generally refers to cookies or the lack thereof.

Anyway, Mom said she had a wonderful time and learned a lot about things that they do in Thailand. She even rode an elephant in the jungle which she felt was one of the best parts of her trip. The picture at the top of the page is of some elephants and their handlers having their morning baths in the river at Chiangmai. Did you know that elephants love to take baths? I didn’t know that. Most dachshunds hate baths!

An interesting thing happened when she was she on her way to the elephant place. She saw an eventing cross country course in a field beside the road where people were schooling their horses. A Thai friend of Mom’s explained that this was the Thai military base where all the equestrian activities take place. She had no idea that there was eventing in Thailand. Maybe she’ll take all of us to live there and run some events! I’d love to meet an elephant. I’ll bet I could impress him with my fierce yapping and my bravery. Not So Mean Dan could visit us in Thailand and build jumps. All the other people that he and Mom have nightcaps with could come too. I’ll bet Mom would even hire some elephants to help. Elephants don’t need diesel gas to run like tractors do, and Mom also learned that writing paper can be made out of elephant poop. Now THAT is a cool fact!

Mom got to meet some Buddhist monks in Thailand and said that she was really impressed with their way of thinking. This is especially newsworthy because it takes a lot to impress Mom! She said that they seem very mellow, happy and peaceful, and that she wishes that some of the people she works with in eventing could be like that. I’ve heard that there is a small group of individuals who have decided to make Mom very unhappy, and maybe if they were Buddhists, they wouldn’t behave that way. I know with my help, Mom will be OK, but it bothers all of us to see her get so angry. Sometimes she even forgets our cookies because she’s so busy stomping around the house muttering to herself.

Naturally, with Mom gone, it’s been pretty quiet on the American Eventing Championships front. I know that Amy who works at the USEA office in Leesburg has been very busy getting sponsors, and there have been several e mails received here about qualifying for the competition. All that information is on this website and on the USEA site too. Not So Mean Dan is in the south helping at Poplar Place and Red Hills for the whole month so nothing new was built while Mom was away. I know that Tom and his partner Steve have been working hard making Lamplight look pretty for the season, and Jan is beating the local bushes for sponsorship.

Since her return, Mom has briefly put the AEC’s on hold and is dealing with the Maui Jim Horse Trials which run two months before the AEC’s. She had to do the dreaded FEI Draft Schedule, (whatever that is), before she left on vacation, and she also got the Omnibus page in to our friend Sharon (who never forgets to feed me cookies when she sees me). Mom is also starting to write letters for sponsorship and advertising which keeps her busy at the computer when she’d not mooning about Thailand. (We all agree it’s time she stops doing that and starts paying more attention to us.)

Next month is April - Rolex month which means that Mom will be gone again for a while helping Janie and Mort - and hopefully, spring weather will come to Illinois! At the moment, the snow is dachshund-belly deep and not much fun, but the days are getting longer. Soon, mowing will start, and Not So Mean Dan will be back building and all will be right with the world. I hope this happens soon. I’m tired of winter.

Until then, lots of love.

Gobi