Month: October 2008

Katie Rose was in the NC State Fair horse show this weekend. It got off to an inauspicious start yesterday in the jumping classes: First, her horse refused the jumps in the first event. Second, her horse was kicked off the fairgrounds because its papers were not in order–a vaccination was expired or something like that. Her instructor, the horse’s owner, took that horse home and brought Katie Rose another horse, who was more seasoned but not as showy. However, that horse then also refused the jumps because he had not had a chance to see them in practice. Despite all the disappointment, Katie Rose kept her composure and her spirits up for the next day.

On Sunday, she got a sixth place in showmanship (walking the horse, not riding) using the trainer’s own horse, since her backup was not used to showmanship. She then switched to her backup pony, but did not place in the next event. However, she placed ninth in equitation, which judges how well the rider is doing (vs how the horse looks). Finally, she got 10th place in the championship class. All events were 10&under (they go by the rider’s at the beginning of the year; KR is 11 now, of course) pony classes, and she was competing against 16-25 other rider’s in each one.  By comparison, she placed 6th, 10th, and 7th out of 4-5 events in her state fair debut last year, but did not get a championship ribbon, which we were all please with this year.

This morning after breakfast, Debbie and I were discussing the financial services bailout package currently under consideration in Congress. Debbie said, “It’s what? 700 trillion?” When I replied, “700 billion,” she said, “Billion. Trillion. What’s the difference?” Katie Rose was getting ready for school, and said from the hallway, “One is 12 zeros and the other is 9 zeros,” while at the same time I was saying from the kitchen, “Three orders of magnitude.”

Such is Debbie’s life these days. There have been several other instances in the last year in which her offhanded comments were logically deconstructed in the same manner at the same time by both her husband and her 11-year-old daughter, much to her exasperation. I find it amusing, as well as somewhat gratifying to see my thought processes reflected so strongly in Katie Rose. Ever since she was an infant, it has been obvious she was my daughter. Not only does she have my blonde hair, blue eyes, and freckles, but little moments like the one above have shown similarities that run far beneath the surface.