Horses

Yesterday and today I worked at the horse racecourse in Malmö on an event called American Days. There were American flags everywhere and there were special shows inspired by America. Like Western riding, Mountain shooting, Cowhorse/Cutting and Quarterraces. All foodstand there were Americanized. There were Panpizza, Doughnuts, Hickory Smoked Ribbs and of course hamburgers. There was a small area dedicated to American soldiers from the Second World War, so there were men and women dressed up as 1940's military (wish I'd brought my camera). There was also a small Native American fireplace with a tent close-by. Later in the evening there were tributes to Dolly Parton and Tina Turner on the small stage. There were also loads of old American vintage cars, cool and beautiful all of them.

Along with all this there were of course all the ordinary gallop races. Standing there watching the horses I suddenly felt like 8 years old again. Like all small girls I too loved horses. I wasn't dedicated enough to commit to riding and taking care of a real horse, but every chance I got to ride I took. I was, and still am, a little afraid of horses because they are such big animals (I have respect for all animals I know to be stronger and/or bigger than me). But while I watched those horses there were especially two that I completely fell in love with. One was lightbrown in body and mane, but the tail was half-white and it had white spots on its behind. It seemed a little rough to the body but seemed to have a very subtle nature and personality. Very likeable. The other one was jetblack, so black that it almost shimmered in blue. The mane and tail were long and wavy. It was a very thin horse, muscular and confident, but also beautiful and elegant. None of them seemed to win their races, though.

We had two places where we sold our things. One place close to the stage and one place close to the entrance. Down by the stage we had all the basic things and up by the entrance we had cotton candy and balloons as well. Down by the stage it was extremely windy. I hadn't brought a jacket cause I thought it wouldn't be necessary. But the constant wind added to only 17 degrees made it freezing down by the stage. Luckily Cicci (my friend who also worked there) had her mum come bring a jacket. Since we switched places every now and then, the one standing down by the stage wore her big wind jacket/coat. Also, down by the stage there was absolutely nothing to do except wandering back and forth or sitting down at the very-bad-for-your-back chair. Up next to the entrance on the other hand there was hardly any wind at all (we were between two buildings) and since that was the place with cotton candy and balloons, that's where all the families went. I think I made about 20-30 cotton candy that day and sold about twice the amount of balloons. That was fun! Later in the evening there was a sudden downfall that didn't end, so we decided to pack up and leave 1½ hours earlier than planned.

Today we had only the place up by the entrance. But it was very windy there too today. However I had borrowed my sister's wind jacket today so I was fine. There was hardly anything to do today at all. It was a very slow day and the only exciting thing that happened was that I was photographed by a newspaper (and the small sudden downfalls that had us taking in and bringing the balloons back out again over and over).

At 5pm we closed up and went back home. Now my back, feet and legs hurt from having to constantly stand up two days in a row. It's painful but at the same time it's kind of pleasant to feel that your body has been doing some serious working outdoors. There is a special feeling of accomplishment and pride that comes from throwing out empty boxes at the end of an event. I like my job :)

And the only song I could think of those two days was this one: