A Celebration at El Ombu de Areco

Sandro Botticelli’s Renaissance masterpiece, The Birth of Venus, is fondly called Venus on the Half Shell with its depiction of Venus arriving from the sea on a scallop shell. In the same spirit, I call this photo Ted on Horseback. It has a renaissance story, too.

Those of you who know us know that there was a time when Ted wouldn’t have been able to get on a horse. When I rode a camel in Morocco some years ago, he watched from the roadside.

But after a year of faithful exercise and carefully watching our diet, we are both smaller men than we used to be. Ted’s change is considerable. And today, he effortlessly climbed onto a horse on our day trip to El Ombu de Areco, a ranch 120 km northwest of Buenos Aires.

Funny, I look at the photo and think Ted is a bigger man now that he’s smaller. He has accomplished something pretty amazing. I am very proud of him … and of what we’ve been able to do.

He’s my big man and I love him.

And I love seeing him looking so happy.

Incidentally, I didn’t ride today. Since hernia repair surgery in September, I am back to swimming a mile three days a week at our local swim club in Atlanta, but there are still some moves I just can’t do. Like the lateral leg lift required to pee on a fire hydrant. Or mount a horse.

So, I rode in a buggy with four lovely retired ladies from Los Angeles who were funny as hell. And who, like us, are sailing to Antarctica in a few days.

After our respective rides, Ted and I shared a beautiful mixed grill lunch under the trees with a couple from Puerto Rico, a family from Chattanooga and a pair of newlyweds from London on their honeymoon. Yes, a local malbec was involved.

We drank a toast to them.

And after seeing Ted so happily on horseback, I knew it was a day of celebration for us, too.

Thanks to Jessica Ghiachello of Signature Tours for the photos.