Monday, April 14, 2014

Blogging from #AtoZChallenge - Lay/Lie and Lad

Oh boy is this a fun one! There are just some grammar rules I can't remember no matter how hard I try and how logical they sound. When do you use lay or lie? I found a handy-dandy little table that has saved my writing butt many times. One of my very low-tech tools is to keep open a draft email. I've titled it To Do, but it can be anything. For me it's a running list of things I want to remember, things I must remember but don't feel like scheduling in Outlook. Right now I've got a list of all the blogs I want to visit for A to Z every day, the html for my signature, a few songs I want to buy...and...down at the bottom where I'll never lose it, this table:


Lay vs. Lie Chart

Infinitive Definition         Present             Past     Past Participle   Present Participle
to lay to put or place     lay(s)                laid       laid                   laying
something down
to lie to rest or recline    lie(s)                 lay        lain                   lying
Occasionally I find my first guess is correct, but I still check. Just in case my brain is playing tricks on me. Is your brain as stubborn on lay vs lie? Or something else? Please share your hints!
We owned a boarding facility for six years. Both the best and worst experience of my life. I learned more about horses and riding and training in those six years than the entire rest of my life. I learned more about bad people than I ever wanted to know. Not all were bad of course and many are still friends. But some just shouldn't be allowed to walk the streets without a big E for evil branding their forehead.
One of our early boarders seemed wonderful. Then one day she quit showing up. Didn't pay her board. Wouldn't answer her phone or emails or door. We never learned what happened. We told her in messages that we could work things out if she'd give us the paperwork to sell the horses. We'd make sure they got good homes.
Maybe the electric company can turn off the power when people don't pay. Now way we'd stop feeding the horses. We talked to the authorities and found out the legal course is the file a lien, appear in court (automatically win when the owner doesn't show up). But winning only means you have the right to take the horses to auction. Running a horse through auction is a horrible thing. They're treated impersonally and you must take them to the nearest auction. In this case it was one more suited for small animals. They ran the horses through a cement tunnel into the ring. Many fell down on the slick cement.
We weren't about to take a chance that these two horses go to a bad home, so we bid on them ourselves. Yes, we were paying ourselves for horses we'd already won the right to own, but this is the only way to get the paperwork. We still had to pay the auction house a percentage too.
The two horses were Lad, a small, bay untrained Quarterhorse and Maria, a very nice, gray mare of unknown breeding. I finished Maria's training and she turned into a fabulous trail and steady endurance horse. I trained Lad as well. Probably the easiest horse I'd ever trained. One day in the round pen, one in the arena, and then out on the trail. He became a safe kids horse. I'm picturing Maria here too because I have a different horse planned for M.


 

8 comments:

  1. Awww... that's such a sad story. :( I can understand the pressure to just not answer and run away from such troubles... but... with all of those messages you left, there was no reason for her not to return them. I'm sorry you went through that (the horses too, of course).

    Alex Hurst, fantasy author in Japan, participating in Blogging A-Z April Challenge.

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  2. Don't think they even teach grammar rules much these days in schools, though I think they should. I doubt I remember them all; but even with the one's I've forgotten I'm shocked at how poorly some of the younger generation write.

    Speaking of a list of those you'll be visiting from a-z, didn't we have the ability to add the linky to our blog last year? Pretty sure I remember doing that, but didn't see any option that said grab this linky or something along those lines??

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    1. I think there is a linky link somewhere. I've seen a few people use it, but it does make it tough to find the link to comment when scrolling past the whole list. So I decided not to add it. This is my first year and I'm already making a list of things I'll want to do different/better next year.

      Thanks for visiting!

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  3. Wow, pay for horses you've already won ? That's not fair.

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    1. Well, I was paying myself, but the auction house took a cut. If I hadn't bought them back, then I would have received the money to cover their bills (not enough of course). This was just the best way to know the horses would be taken care of.

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  4. This is one of those things that I think a lot of people get wrong. Great tip! Shawn from Laughing at Life 2

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  5. I always have an issue with the past tense use of "lay". For some reason, it just doesn't sound right to my ears. I guess I just picked up a bad grammar habit along the way that my brain just won't quit. Elle @ Erratic Project Junkie

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  6. The addition of lad was nice, and marvelous images! The lay/lie thing is something I know by rote, but I sympathize. I have big trouble with affect/effect.

    Visiting for A to Z. Best of luck with the second half!

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