Yesterday was Valentine's day as you are all aware. For some it is the day of love. For others, it is a corporate cash grab. For me and Cass, it is the opportunity for a photoshoot.
While some people were out at the Music Box or watching movies downstairs, Cass and I were upstairs in our room, recreating a scene from our sickness. I hadn't had the opportunity to get any photos with my sick mask on, since I wasn't in much of a happy mood when I was last wearing them, so I decided to take some pictures yesterday night at around 9 or so, with a mask on. Cass saw this, and wanted to join in the fun. When the masks got a little old we decided to take more photos without them. Then that got old, so we decided to get dressed oddly and do some funky rockabilly hair and makeup and take even MORE photos. When everyone got home we dressed them up and I (the master makeuptress) gave them some funky makeup as well and had a fabulous photoshoot that lasted until 1 o'clock in the morning. If you count that out, we were being ridiculous for four hours. We have in progress photos, end result photos, posed photos and groups photos. It was mindless, entertaining teenage fun and is definetly something we will be doing again.
Promptly after our photoshoot, we all fell asleep, some still with their makeup on.
We all had to be ready for 8:45 this morning so that we could go horseback riding! It was a lot of fun. My horse was named Mafalda and was a very dark brown colour (very pretty). She was also very shaddy. I've never seen a horse with a winter coat before, but they look kinda like mountain/wild horses albeit with saddles on. Anyway, I was the last person in our line of riders and was also carrying the camera, so I don't actually have any photos of me on the horse which is unfortunate :(, but I do have the memories. The trail was a lot of fun. I've never been on a winter trail before and it's a lot different from a cleared summer trail.
The snow was sometimes up to the horses' knees so there was a lot of jerking about and it's a lot less smooth going, but also a bit more fun I think. It is also very cold for the obvious reason that it is winter, but also very picturesque with the dark horses and colourful blankets and riders against the snow. At one point we were riding through some trees and the snow was falling and everything had a movie magic quality to it. There were scared shouts from the more inexperienced and nervous riders and laughter from everyone else. We got to trot just a little because everyone wasn't very comfortable with it, but trotting is a lot more fun than just walking if a little uncomfortable.
In the middle of our ride we stopped at a old mine. They mined for barium, gold and lead there and it was a really interesting place. The mine itself is really cool looking. The walls at the entrance are all covered in crystalized ice spikes that are very delicate and look like spiky fluff from farther away (I can't really describe it a different way). Inside the mine you can see the veins of barium in the ceiling and the walls. Actually, a chunk of barium looks a lot like a huge wad of old white chewing gun mushed together with little chinks of darker matter in it. It looks like it should feel king of soft and mushy, but it feels just like rock.
The floor of the mine was covered in ice. In the beginning of the mine the ice was kind of foggy, but not slippery at all so you could walk quickly and be confident on not falling. However, a little farther back the ice was more slippery, yes, but also perfectly clear. You could see that we were standing on about a 15 cm of ice on top of the floor and it was a really neat effect. Things were kinda magnified, but also it made me feel like I was walking on air. You could just SEE that although you were stepping on something, it wasn't the stone.
There are also these stalagmites of water everywhere in the mine. Some are about a metre tall but only 5 cm across and almost perfectly cylindrical, but some of them were about 30 cm across and very oblong. Because they were so tall, they weren't all that sturdy and just brushing against them was enough to make some fall.
When we got into the back of the cave our guide turned off the lights to show us this calcium byproduct that forms stalagtites. It actually glows in purple (UV?) light and looks really cool. When he turned the lights off there was absolutely no natural light in there at all. I mean nothing. It was the blackests black I have ever been in. We weren't even very far into the mine and there was still no light whatsoever reaching us. It makes you feel very alone. Even though you can hear everyone breathing and laughing nervously around you, it's almost like they could just be a trick. Even though I knew Alyssanne had not moved from where she was standing beside me, I still found myself reaching for her hand to make sure she was still there. Anyway, when he turned on the UV lights you could see that there were veins of the calcium stuff all over the ceiling and it looked like some sort of fantasy cave with twisting and shimmering veins of something overhead. Very cool indeed.
After that we went back outside, got back on our horses and started riding back down to the ranch. When I got off my horse I started petting her and scratching her neck...and she stepped on my foot. Umm...oww. It wasn't too bad though. She didn't have her full weight on her hoof and I pushed her off very quickly, but it was still sore for twenty minutes or so.
And now I'm sitting around waiting for dinner to be ready....
Sara.
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