My Thoroughly Cooked Goose

I confess that of all animals, the one I remind myself of the most is a goose. 

The is not true of a goose's social habits, but behaviourally wise, I am quite accurately mirrored.  Like birds, and fish too, now that I think about it, I am very quick to become extremely extremely wholeheartedly enamoured with an idea, and very much like birds, I waddled about decidedly to my own purpose, quacking and honking away delightedly until my youthful passion suddenly runs adry.  At which point, I flap about a bit and then quickly turn back the other way and carry on quacking and honking away delightedly about something else.  And the quacking and honking thing in itself is a lot like me.  I'm a thinking-aloud type of person a lot of the time, and part of my means of mentally processing my plans (for study, for my weekend etcetera etcetera) is done aloud to my mum, who, by the way, is an excellent listener.  Thank goodness for that.

Well, it just so happened that like my many goose-like passions was the Horse Stage.  We know it for a fact, do we not, that the Horse Stage swiftly descends upon all unsuspecting female children of a certain age.  Its hypnosis is temporary and will suddenly be snapped out of like the waking up after a nightmare, and then life can continue as if it never happened. 

Well I, being a perfect goose, was content to linger in the Animals-in-General Stage for the majority of my childhood.  I was a hopeless and heart-felt animal enthusiast, but has never given any special consideration towards horses.  In fact, I was quite proud of the fact that I didn't particularly like horses.  I was happy to waddle on down the lane of contentment, quacking about how I would never succumb to the Horse Stage. 

Aha!  Ay me!  Being a goose, when the Horse Stage hit, it hit me harder than ever.  I was not only a helpless hypnotic under its influence...  I was an accomplice in evil!  I devoured something like five encyclopedias on horses, and then every general horse care, grooming, tack etceter etcetera manuals and guidebooks available to the city council library service (including those that had to be specially ordered in!)  I even wrote a 500 page novel (icurumba - I am so humiliated to have been to ridiculous!) about a racehorse.  And then I took riding lessons for way more than they are worth, and like a perfect goose, I proclaimed in utmost pride to all who could stand to dwell within twenty meters of me for the stench of horse, that I would never stop loving horses!  (Did you pick up on the total attitude swing).  Mmmhmmm.  That's right.  I said that I would never stop loving horses ever.  Yeah.  Well.

What can I say?  The Horse Stage ended.  I snapped out of it.  And I have been busy flapping and honking and quacking in the opposite direction ever since.