On the Line

I  jinxed myself with that post about the fire photo. This week has been nothing but putting out fires – from an unusually hectic Sidelines deadline, to an actual fire on the hill next to my barn on Tuesday morning. After living through this in 1991, there’s nothing that gives me the creeps quite like the sight of smoke where it shouldn’t be:

Oh California, you tinderbox, you.

This fire was teensy-tiny, and the white blob to the right is facility manager Kevin tearing up the hill in his water truck. I think he had the fire out before the firefighters even showed up. It was mostly the symbolism that got to me. Usually I’d just call it a coincidence, but this little blaze was the beginning of a week that only got crazier from there. September’s Sidelines will feature an unusual cover (you’ll have to tell me if you like it) that goes with a cover story by Lauren Giannini about maybe the first person ever to grace Sidelines’ cover who is NOT a horse person. That story and the rest of the issue have been the source of many email flurries, back and forth edits and general nailbiting all around among the staff. Hopefully it’s all worth the trouble! On top of that it’s been a busy week for our new media department (that would be me), as we add a new way for people to buy and read Sidelines on their computers and iPads. It took a lot of talking to get that little link from idea to reality. I haven’t had a minute to take a deep breath until right now, at 10pm on a Friday night. And now, well thank goodness I’m  heading into a busy weekend of teaching, riding, and being at the barn. Horses, clients, grooms, scheduling and all the rest is kind of trading hectic for hectic, but I can’t complain. . . as long as no more fires break out!