Fireworks and Trailblazing

Fireworks:
Pretty, colourful, bright... I've seen 2 of 4 firework at this year's Celebration of Light. Italy and China. Both Italy and China were wonderful to watch, but to compare the two of them would have me praise China more than Italy. China's fireworks were stronger, more fast-paced, and varied. It was choreographed well with the music, and I appreciated the fireworks more, knowing that the theme was the Yangtze River (since near the end, most of the fireworks were yellow/gold fireworks, and seemed to "flow" like a river). It was quite stunning, and drew surprise from the crowd at times. I'm looking forward to seeing fireworks from the Czech Republic, and from Mexico. I also like to listen to the music, and see how everything is choreographed.

One thing I really like about the Celebration of Light, is being downtown and feeling the energy of the crowds. Everyone is always enthusiastic, cheering and clapping. Of course, every year there are the occasional fights and confrontations, but I think the crowd is always, in general, very good, especially considering how crowded all the beaches and parks get, during the shows.


Trailblazing
Well, not really trailblazing. This weekend I went on a 2 hour horseback riding trip. I think 1 hour would've been enough.

To be honest, I was scared of riding the horse, especially when the owner of the ranch was explaining what to do, and what not to do. The horses were very large, and I was intimidated by them. I wanted to back out, but I already paid. In the end, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

I went horseback riding for the first time, several years ago, and the horse I was on, always liked to trot. This time, the horse I recently rode on listened to my commands well enough, but often liked to ride close to the bushes so that I would get smacked by branches, and several times, knocked my leg against some trees. Ouch!! That's when I started to pull on the reins more. My horse was a pretty good horse. A few of the horses behind me were aggressive though. Poor SHC had a horse that was misbehaving.

What was kinda fun, but scary too, was trotting. The horses would trot a little and I'd panic a bit, but then regain my composure. I got the hang of it, I think... Because the first horse I rode on, from several years ago, liked to trot, I found this horse to be more tame.

Right now, I'm suffering from the 2-hour ride, though. My bum is sore, and will probably be sore for another day. I'm happy that I mustered up the courage to ride again. Maybe I'll do it again...???