Rejuvenation
Memo to Angel of Death: Bad luck! I'm back.
A week in the saddle in the mountains of southwest Montana. No phone, no television, no computer, no email, no voice mail. Each day spent loping on horseback through alpine meadows, along rushing streams, surrounded by snow-capped peaks. The only tough question each day was which wine goes with elk?
But now I am back. Fortunately, my first week is being spent on outpatient responsibilities, dialysis rounds, outpatient clinic, reviewing labs and charts. I'll be on call Friday night and then have the weekend off to recoup. Not too shabby a schedule. I do miss my horse though.
Riding is a very Zen experience. When you first start going fast, loping or galloping, the natural reaction is to grip tight with your legs, knees and hands. Wrong move. You immediately start bouncing all over the place. To find your seat on a loping horse you have to let go. One hand on the reins, the other in the air. You need to lengthen your legs and drop down the heels, feeling the horse but not gripping. You lean back but keep your posture upright, moving from your center in synch with the horse's center. You don't master the horse, you blend with it, until you are one creature, running flat out up mountain trails.
When you find that sweet spot, the world and all it's troubles falls away. The Angel evaporates into mist.
If people still rode horses for transportation I am convinced the world would be a better place. No air pollution, no global warming, certainly no road rage. When was the last time your Lexus nuzzled you after a long ride? The only waste product of the horse is reprocessed hay that would provide valuable fertilizer for farmers.
From a ICU doc's point of view the advantages are amazing. Just think, no one ever got drunk, left the bar at 1 am, and ran their horse into a bridge abutment at 70 mph. Just throw the reins over the horse's neck and let him find the way home.
A week in the saddle in the mountains of southwest Montana. No phone, no television, no computer, no email, no voice mail. Each day spent loping on horseback through alpine meadows, along rushing streams, surrounded by snow-capped peaks. The only tough question each day was which wine goes with elk?
But now I am back. Fortunately, my first week is being spent on outpatient responsibilities, dialysis rounds, outpatient clinic, reviewing labs and charts. I'll be on call Friday night and then have the weekend off to recoup. Not too shabby a schedule. I do miss my horse though.
Riding is a very Zen experience. When you first start going fast, loping or galloping, the natural reaction is to grip tight with your legs, knees and hands. Wrong move. You immediately start bouncing all over the place. To find your seat on a loping horse you have to let go. One hand on the reins, the other in the air. You need to lengthen your legs and drop down the heels, feeling the horse but not gripping. You lean back but keep your posture upright, moving from your center in synch with the horse's center. You don't master the horse, you blend with it, until you are one creature, running flat out up mountain trails.
When you find that sweet spot, the world and all it's troubles falls away. The Angel evaporates into mist.
If people still rode horses for transportation I am convinced the world would be a better place. No air pollution, no global warming, certainly no road rage. When was the last time your Lexus nuzzled you after a long ride? The only waste product of the horse is reprocessed hay that would provide valuable fertilizer for farmers.
From a ICU doc's point of view the advantages are amazing. Just think, no one ever got drunk, left the bar at 1 am, and ran their horse into a bridge abutment at 70 mph. Just throw the reins over the horse's neck and let him find the way home.
posted by ICUDOC at 6:54 PM
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