Danny January: Blog

I get quite a few notes from readers. I read them all. Some, point out inaccuracies in my story, some are thanks for writing, some are, "It would sure be nice if..." Here's one from Suspenders that I enjoyed reading. I hope you do, too.

Thanks again for giving me the inspiration to find a place to contribute. I was out of town for two weeks, but last Saturday I finally participated in training for horse leaders and side walkers.

Since I've never been around horses before, it'll be quite a while before I'm ready to lead a horse, but side walkers are responsible for keeping the riders safe and encouraging them, which I can mostly do.

The most memorable part of Saturday was feeding a couple of the horses carrots; one of them later practically swallowed my fist hoping I might have something else for him. He's a hoot.

Yesterday (Wednesday) I volunteered for the first time. Pretty simple stuff: the first participant was a non-verbal, gentle giant of a boy. I helped him mount, talked to him a bit, and held his thigh against the horse.

The second was a young girl who didn't need help staying on, but did need encouragement to project her voice so the horse could hear her. She was absolutely charming, very much a talker.

I'll be working with both over the next several weeks, and I'm very much looking forward to it.

Thanks again.

Charleston is a tourist town and because of that, it's pretty laid back and casual. Locals can spot most tourists pretty easily and if we can't tell they're tourists by sight, we can definitely do it by sound. Here are a few words you'll want to learn how to pronounce properly before you visit.

Awendaw: AW-en-daw

Beaufain: BYOO – fain (“BYOO” rhymes with “you”)

Beaufort: BYOO – fort, BYOO – fert

Beidler: BYE – dler

Bonneau: BOHN – oh

Clemson: CLEM – zun (Sometimes, CLEMP - zun)

Gaillard: gil – YARD

Hasell: HAY – zul

Horry: o – ree

Huger: u – GEE

Legare: le – GREE

Moultrie: MOOL – tree, MOW – tree

Sumter: SUMP • tur

And when you pronounce them properly, do so slowly and enjoy the sound as it rolls off your tongue.

Tourist Season is complete and posted. I'm working on the next edition, with a working title of "Lean on Me".

As the chronicle has progressed, I've added new characters and dropped a few. I've tried not to overwhelm my readers. That's going to be tough to do. Several seniors graduated but there will be the addition of swimmers, baseball players, cheerleaders, and another group of people I won't describe as I don't want to post spoilers.

Thanks for reading. Don't forget to vote, score, comment, or whatever. As for me, I'm going for a ride.

I'm working to get all 12 chapters of Tourist Season published by the end of the week. Policies regarding the type story we can publish are a bit uncertain and I want to get this episode published ASAP, just in case.

Horses. As I've written the chronicles, I tried to do a couple of things besides just tell the story. I've tried to spark a bit of nostalgia for things past. I've used music as much as anything else to do that. I've tried to share some personal lessons learned, whether that was how to operate an excavator, clear land, or deal with strange and unusual people. I've also tried to introduce some local color, through description, weather, recipes, and attitudes. So many stories on SOL could happen in anytown, USA. That's fine but I've really tried to showcase the unique appeal of the Lowcountry.

Every teen has surprises in their life. Things that weren't important, suddenly are. A surprise for me was horses. There's an entire world of people, places, and events I wouldn't know anything about if it weren't for the introduction of horses into my life.

I think the majority of SOL readers are male. The majority of equestrians are female. If you're a single male and you want to meet strong, independent, capable, good looking women, learn to ride a horse. Beware though. Cowgirls have stepped in shit, shoveled shit, and fallen in shit, so they're not going to take any shit from you. Trust me on this.

Horses are truly amazing animals. They really can hear your heartbeat from 5 feet away and they will pick up on your mood from a pasture away. Every single one of them has a distinct and unique personality. I've changed a lot of names (most) in this story but not Maveric. The name captures so much of who he was that I couldn't bring myself to do it.

A horse will walk past the same puddle of water M-TH, but on Friday, they won't, because there is obviously a horse-eating shark, lurking in the depths. Horse people know that horses will only spook at two things - those things that move and those that don't. If you have a temperature drop and a windy day, it's probable best to wait a day to go for a ride.

Horses are herd animals (clan animals, technically) and when you separate one from their herd, you become the other member of their small herd. The most important thing you can bring to that relationship is confidence. I was riding two days ago when my horse spotted a fox, long before I did. Ears went up and he stopped cold, staring at this little dog-sized animal. Unbeknownst to me (but obvious to my horse) was that this was a giant horse-eating fox and we should pick a different direction. We picked a different direction. It's a fun dynamic.

I'm not expecting a bunch of my readers to show up at the next Bureau of Land Management horse auction and buy one of their own. I do hope you're enjoying this aspect of the story. It was really important to me, and Jack. I'll try not to overdo it.

As always, I invite comments and emails.

From the forum:
We found a new hosting facility that will allow us more freedom.

It will be few days until we move servers again, but as of now, don't worry about your stories.

I will be posting Tourist Season Chapter 8, later today.