bust out the SAT words

it makes me laugh, working with high schoolers, because i have this one girl whose company i really enjoy. used to be a tough read, but now, we get along quite well. and it doesn't hurt that she's in an english class where she needs to write poetry in form, so we pass the time writing sonnets and talking poetry together.

last time we worked together, we banged out the first hundred words of a scholarship essay. (if you're got resources, use them. and i only massage her words, i don't write things for her--i'm not that kind of editor).

so i leave her wondering how she's going to finish off this pretty fine essay we wrote (i was merely a consultant, i promise), and she told me today how she finished it off. i was so impressed. that girl will get money, for sure. she had 250 words to write, and we wrote about 100 together, which is a decent start.

i feared she might not finish at all, but once you get that far into something, it's hard to turn back.

so tonight i used the word abscond,
and she says,

that's an SAT word.

and i laughed.

so?

i said.

i don't use SAT words.

which made me laugh again.

sometimes, i'll bust out a word, like sacrosanct, i used it tonight and sometimes i'm just not entirely certain of a meaning but i'll throw it where it intuitively goes, and send the email (then check the dictionary) and fortunately i have this sixth sense with language going on, because i tend to get words right.

i told my prof, i don't use thesaurai. i like to organically find words. (he probably thinks i'm really weird, and of course, you know, i am.)

so much of the reading i do, i don't mindfully absorb the language, i just let it seep in the subliminal cracks and crevices, knowing when it's time to bust out that SAT word, it's going to come with both guns blazing.

my girl got a picture of me and bucky today. i was freezing so i was all bundled up, but he looked stunning. he always looks stunning, even mudcaked.

this hawk came out of nowhere and perches right beside bucky's paddock. it's wonderful to see him just appear. and then watch. when i leave, he does. when i return, he reappears.

you're just playing with me now,

i say.

and he rustles his feathers in the wind.

our time is down from five hours mucking five stalls (i do a very thorough job), to about four. (this also includes bucky time, which varies).

there are so many people at the stables on saturday morning, i hate to be there. but it's good that i was. bandit was really edgy when a kid was trying to tack him up. and i was able to help.

go figure, eh?

when it came time to bridle him, i stood right beside the giant horse, and had my hand on his withers, and stroked his chest, while he stood patiently for the first time.

the whole time he was away from his girly friend, he was calling out, earbusting whinneys. and throwing himself around. he's huge. seventeen hands, that's a lot of meat to be lunging.

but it all ends well.

and i ride him on tuesday. god i hope i'm ready.

no way to prepare except to be present.

i realized as i watched people talking on phones in the store today, how cell phones take us away from the moment, draw us to other places and people. which can be good for love birds, but a chronic problem for the rest of us.

i'm trying to be present. to be fully wherever i am, and the cellphone just doesn't help one bit.

time to read 52 pages, then to bed.

i open at 6:30 tomorrow morning. hope i sleep tonight.

peace. out.