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 |  A Journal of our Adventures in Country Living.... |
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"Home is where the heart is" and this is the continuing story of our life on the farm....where our heart is and where we make our home. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** I want to thank janieruthryals for this wonderful Merit Badge: ![Merit Badge in Nature
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For the wonderful visit to your farm, all through the words in your blog.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/genre-Nature-1125.gif) |
Well, I guess I should give you MY version of our road trip to Missouri to visit with my family. Otherwise, you would never know what REALLY happened if you just read David’s side of the story: "Invalid Entry"  and the entry after that one. We headed out of Livingston right at 6am on Sunday morning. There was just a hint of the sun rising to our right as we settled into the drive up Hwy. 59 towards Texarkana approximately 4 hours ahead of us. At that point we would head East on Interstate 30 into Little Rock, Arkansas then continue our Northern trek on Hwy 67 into Missouri. We hoped to make the drive in about 9 hours. We were a bit apprehensive as we started out. Normally we are full of excitement and glee, but we had to leave all our babies behind us and we were worried about them. Only those of you who have house pets who are a part of your family will understand that feeling. We hated leaving them behind, but there was no way we could take them with us. We were lucky in that I had a co-worker who stopped by the house twice a day and checked in on them and feed them. At least we didn’t have to put the dogs in a kennel. That is quite a traumatic experience even for the most seasoned animal. We left the back door open so they could all go in and out into the fenced in yard whenever they needed to, and that seemed to worked real well. But once we got away and Livingston was dropping further and further behind us, our jovial mood returned and we looked forward to the miles ahead. We made our first pit stop just north of Nacogdoches, about 1 1/2 hours out. David had been drinking coffee all morning and it was time to let some of it out. I took advantage of the situation and also used the facilities and stretched my legs for a bit. Nacogdoches is the oldest town in Texas and is full of history and wonderful old buildings. It was named after the son of a Caddo Indian Chief who was sent 3 days West of the main Caddo camp to settle. The other son, Natchitoches, headed East 3 days, and settled in Louisiana where the town is named after him. Bladders emptied and snacks procured, we hit the road again. It took another 3 hours to make it up to Texarkana, on the Texas/Arkansas border. We skirted the city and turned east on Interstate 30 which took us through the middle of Arkansas. When we reached Arkadelphia there was a major decision to be made. There sits, just off the road, a Cracker Barrel restaurant. Now we had packed sandwiches, snacks and drinks so we wouldn’t have to stop, but it was a Cracker Barrel after all. I don’t know why this was such a deterrent to our plans. I have heard all the hype about how good the food at Cracker Barrel is and the wonderful gift shop they have, but I have never been totally convinced that I really like the place. I have stopped at a couple of them, and yes the food was good, but good enough to delay us by about an hour? David was driving at this point, and he said that he just couldn’t control the car. The car automatically exited and made it’s way right to a parking spot in front of the restaurant. I was not proved wrong. Again, the food was good, but it was not worth the 1 hour delay it caused us. We both walked out a bit disappointed in the service and food, and now had to make up time on the road. Around Little Rock we flew and then grabbed our Northerly heading again as the sun hung high in the noontime sky. Hwy 67 is a 4 lane highway till it reaches Newport. At that point, it turns into a little two lane country road that follows the train tracks through some of the most expansive farm land in Arkansas. There were fields of corn and maze turning brown in the summer heat and drought. Emerald green colored rice paddies hugged both sides of the roads interspersed with dark fields of peanuts along the way. Tractors pulling huge tillers and spraying equipment were slowly combing the fields as large irrigation systems pumped gallons of water on dry land. We even saw a crop duster in the distance, dipping in and out of rows of trees to reach the fields he was spraying. It could have been a very peaceful drive... could have been. You see, David was still driving at this point. I had volunteered several times to take over, but he’s the MAN and didn’t want to give up control of the wheel. So instead of a leisurely drive through beautiful farmland, it was a stressful ride listening to him bitch and complain about the speed limit restrictions and the farm vehicles on the road. We had been making good time, maintaining a speed of around 70-75mph. Now that we were on this scenic two lane highway, the speed limit had decreased to 55 and then slowed down through all the wonderful small towns that we went through. At times we were crawling at 35mph through tree lined roads with beautiful old houses sitting behind picket fences. Children, wearing their Sunday dress were sitting on front steps and mothers and fathers were talking with neighbors. It was truly an Norman Rockwell event.... except for the growling and bitching coming from the driver ! All the way up this road, he bitched and complained about the speed limit, the trucks, the farmers, the towns.... gawd... get a grip, will yah ! FINALLY, my bladder made subtle hints that maybe we should make a pit stop and we pulled over in one of the small towns we traversed. I insisted I drive from here on, as I was tired of hanging on for dear life as David tried passing one vehicle after another all the way down this little road. We were almost in Missouri, another 2 hours and we would be at my sisters. Turning off of Hwy 67 in a little town named Success, we took a short cut up to the Missouri/Arkansas line. The land changed from flat farm land to rolling and hilly, embracing us with the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. The road heaved and swelled and twisted and turned as we made our way to our destination. I believe it was about 4 pm when we finally pulled into my sister’s driveway. Ten hours and 520 miles of road trip behind us, whew... it felt good to finally stop. To be continued.................. |
| Wow... what a surprise I had when I finally got home from work today. David was standing there just about busting at the seams to show me..... I wasn't skinny anymore.... I was FAT again !!! "WHAT"! I said. "How did that happen"? Through the kindness of RAOK, my membership was reinstated and they gave me a 2 month upgrade. This will give me time to save up and renew my membership when the time comes. So now, Mel aka Mrs Tor, shows up in nice big FAT letters and not that skinny name that I had yesterday. I was shocked when David showed me my name on the blog page, and my portfolio which was thick and fat again. RAOK does fantastic work. They don't know how much I appreciated this upgrade. I donated GP's to their wonderful cause so that they may continue to help those that need it. So I guess you will be seeing me around the blog pages once in a while. David was jumping up and down with joy... he is always after me to write. I will try to get here more often to write and comment. I am through working 10 hour days and will start back to our normal schedule when we get back from Missouri. Hopefully, between work and taking care of all the critters (which includes David), I can find time to sit and write and comment. See you around..... Take care and God bless.... Melinda |
| This will probably be my last blog entry. My membership is up in a few days and I have decided not to renew as I don't write enough to justify the expense. Besides, when the time comes, I think I will try to get David a upgrade, that way he will be able to use the site more to his advantage. If I feel the need to write, I will just jump in his blog and take it over for a day or two !!!! As most of you know, our anniversary was a few days ago. We had agreed NOT to get anything for each other, just enjoy each others company and have a relaxing evening at home. But did David abide by such rules.... NO. The brat came home from work and handed me my present. If I wasn't so surprised at the romantic gesture, I would have beaned him one with the frying pan. Romantic.... well, he can be when he wants to be. Remember the time I went to Florida to visit some old friends of ours and David couldn't go. I was gone a week, and when I got home, he had a note on the front door that said.... "Follow the path of rose petals". I opened the door and there was a path of red rose petals leading from the door, through the living room, down the hall to the bedroom. I opened the bedroom door and the bedspread was covered with rose petals and David was laying right in the middle of them all waiting ..... ooh la laaaaa ..... For our anniversary this year, the first thing he handed me was this cute little toy cat that had a pair of nunchucks in one hand and his other hand extended out in a karate chop position. He is wearing the white uniform with a little black belt and when you press his hand, he sings "Kung Fu Kitty" and twirls his nunchucks and does a karate chop or two. He told me that he saw that and immediately thought of me. Ok, that was nice. Cute toy. I gave him a kiss and told him how much I liked it and thanked him for the 'gift'. I really did appreciate the thought as we did agree to NOT get each other anything, so I was impressed that he went ahead and bought this little 'thing' for me. Well as I walked away to put the 'toy' up, there was a box sitting there... a jewelry box!!! I opened the box and there was a beautiful necklace, delicate filigree extending from the chain and a delicate heart hanging at the end of it. It was beautiful. As always, my eyes teared up and I turned around and told him he was a big brat, but I loved him anyway !!! He then told me that the Kung Fu Kitty was just there to protect the real present that he bought with his heart. Gawd, I am so lucky to have such a man in my life. I love him with my heart and soul. Without him, nothing would have much meaning. I love sharing my life with him and can't bear the thought of what life would be like without him around. "I LOVE YOU DAVID MCCLAIN" We head out on our little vacation this coming Sunday. My son is at Fort Rucker (Alabama) going through another training course, then he and Lindsey will head back to Fort Drum (New York) to pack up and move cross country to Yakima, Washington. On there way from Fort Rucker to Fort Drum, they are swinging through Missouri to stop at my sisters house to visit with her and grandma. My mother is 89 years old and still in pretty good health, but we are aware that we could lose her any day. Richard and Lindsey want to spend a few days with her, as once they get up to Yakima, it may be a year or two or three before they get back down this way and Grams may not be here. David and I are driving up to Missouri to meet up with them and enjoy a mini family reunion. My brother is also driving in from Denver to be there. I haven't seen my brother in several years and David has never met him. It will be nice to have all of us together one more time. The only thing I pray for is that it's just a bit cooler in Missouri than it is here. The temps have been up over 100 with 80-90% humidity. Feel like temps have been 112 or better. I have to hose my mare down every afternoon as she is just dripping with sweat and the goats are all laying around in the shade of the trees panting. It's not fun at all to have to be out in this heat. I think I would much rather tackle the winters up north again, as you can always put more clothes on to keep warm, but you can't do anything to escape the heat but stay inside a air conditioned house. I say that now, but put me back up north when it is -25 and the wind is whipping the snow around and I will probably tell you I would rather have the heat. There has got to be a happy medium somewhere... mild summers and mild winters. Work is......... well........it's just work. School is starting in a few weeks and we had a tough summer trying to get the school in shape. They put all new carpeting in which put us way behind schedule. People don't realize what has to be done during the summer when school is not in session. We clean the building from top to bottom. From the lights to the carpets, scrub and wax hard floors, the walls, all furniture, windows, desk, bathroom.... everything gets cleaned and disinfected. Cafeteria and gym have to be done, locker rooms and offices finished. All furniture has to be moved out of class rooms and then put back in. There are 7 of us custodians - 6 women and one man. The school I work at has approximately 400 students (4th and 5th grades) and we only have 9 weeks to get all of this work done before the teachers are back in to set up their rooms. It's a task to get everything done during a regular summer, but with all new carpet being laid, it was challenging to say the least. We worked 10 hour days and got it done. Well, I had better wrap this up. It's after midnight and I have to get up at 5am. I can hear David snoring and it is luring me back to the bed. I promised him I would do one more blog, just for him, before my membership ran out. I wanted to surprise him when he got up in the morning and checked the blog page. Y'all take care, God Bless and have fun in life... enjoy !!! |
Wow, I don't really know where to begin. It's been a long time since I have opened this page and tried to write something coherent. A lot has happened between this blog and my last one. David McClain   has filled you in on our critter kingdom and posted some pictures. I now need to come up with a cute name to call my mini animal farm. Not only will we have Pygmy goat babies for sale in the future, but I am also starting to breed Cockatiels. The lady that I bought my goats from gave me a female Cockatiel to bond up with my male. She is also giving me a bonded pair of Whiteface Lutinos that I can raise babies from. I think we are going to sell our home gym that is sitting 'unused' in one of our spare bedrooms and sit that room up as my small critter room. I can put the breeder cages in there and also put the gerbils in there. Yes, I also have a pair of gerbils. The female was given to me by the science teacher at school. A child was to take it home, but at the last minute the parents changed their minds and the gerbil was homeless - well he was homeless until I came along. Gerbils are gregarious critters and do much better with other gerbils for company, so I went to the pet store up town and bought another gerbil. I told the pet store owner that I needed another female as I didn't really want babies to deal with. He showed me the tank with all the 'female' gerbils in it and there was one small, scruffy, skinny looking thing over in the corner looking exhausted. I felt sorry for the poor critter and told the owner that I would take her. Well, later that week, I realized why the poor thing was so skinny and scruffy looking. It was a dang 'MALE' !!! He had been REALLY busy in that tank full of females trying to do his MANLY duties. So now I am awaiting baby gerbils.... ANYONE WANT A GERBIL or two or three? As soon as she has her babies, daddy is going into a seperate tank. His sons will join him as soon as they are old enough to leave mom. The daughters can stay with mom. I stopped back by the pet store and told them that the female gerbil they picked out of the 'girl' tank was really a male and that they probably had a dozen or more mom's to be just waiting on their little special deliveries. The goats are doing well. They are so dang cute and fun to watch. I can sit out there in the barnyard with them and just laugh. Casper (formerly known as Snowball), the little white kid is starting to play with me. He will come up and bounce at me sideways and rear up and tuck that head and try to butt me. I will push him gently and he will hip-hop sideways and jump in circles and come back to me for more petting and fun. It really relieves the daily stresses sitting there amongst the critters. I haven't ridden 'Time' yet. It's just to hot to do anything right now. I usually try to hose her off when I get there to feed, as she will be broken out in a sweat from the afternoon heat. But she gets lots of attention and grooming and she loves every minute of it. The pasture backs up to a highline and deer travel the highline right-a-way all the time. I usually go out in the evening to feed and then sit there and relax for an hour or so, grooming the mare and playing with the goats. As the sun slips behind the trees, the deer come out of the pine forest and thicket and graze the grass in the highline area. I can always tell when they are there as "Time" will alert to them. She will be standing there quietly eating her hay, then throw that head up and stare intensely towards the highline. She will stand there stock still and watch. I slowly move over to her shoulder and lay my head on her neck and find the spot she is concentrating on. It takes me a while, but finally I will find it... the brown head and neck of a doe standing there staring back at us. Unless they move, they are so camouflaged that it's almost impossible to pin point them. If I stand still, they will break the stare and move on down the right-a-way leisurely picking out choice greens along their way. If I move, they take flight and make a mad dash back into the heavy thicket of the forest. We have a resident wild rabbit that is getting use to us now. Every evening he comes bounding around the barn looking for bits of grain and hay. He will sit there and look at us, then casually turn around and meander a little ways out and wait for us to leave before wandering back into the barnyard. The setting sun also brings forth the melodic song of the tree frogs that are so in abundance around the barn. The barn sits in the middle of the field. The back quarter of the field has a nice stand of tall trees that help shade the barn and offer protection to the animals in the afternoon heat. These trees are full of tiny frogs that call out in a loud and beautiful voice. It’s amazing that such a small creature can create such a magnificent vocal sound. I love sitting there listening to natures night orchestra coming to life. The mare is standing a few feet away from me eating hay and her contentment is shown by her soft sighs and rhythmatic chewing. The goats are all bedding down in their little stall, shuffling around trying to get the best spot. They push and shove and move around until all is quiet and they have found their perfect place. It is then that you can hear the burbs and the chewing of cud coming from the stall. The baby curls up in the feed pan to sleep, ignoring the adults. Then I quietly get up and head home. I would be more than content to bring a sleeping bag and curl up with them. I went to a Rheumatologist for some test a few weeks ago. My primary doctor diagnosed me with Fibromyalgia but wanted me to have it confirmed by a specialist. This doctor thinks it is something a lot more interesting and a lot harder to say. He says it is Polymyalgic Rheumatica which is just a muscle disease that causes all the symptoms that I have (stiffness, muscle pain, muscle cramps, exhaustion...etc). It also causes intense face aches, where everything in and on your face aches from your eyeballs to your teeth. This is called temporal arteritis. He put me on Prednisone (a steroid) and within 24 hours I was feeling better. I can walk and get up out of a chair by myself and work a full day. On a scale of one to ten, one being the worse I felt and ten being normal.... I am hanging out at about 5 and 6. By Friday I am down to a four occasionally, but then after a long afternoon nap, I bounce back up to a 5 or 6. The good news is that this will go away in a few years and it has no lasting affects. Once it goes away, it is gone and I will be back to my old self. David has gotten off easy the last month or so because I just didn‘t have the strength to get him (except for a chunked ice cube), but just give me time. You know what they say... “Paybacks are Hell”! lolol Oh and he has been such a brat... so he has a lot coming to him !!!! I really don’t know what I would have done without David. He has been there for me and has held my hand through all of it. He is the one that made me go to the doctor in the first place, as he knew that I was just not myself. I am usually a very active person who never tires. When he saw what was happening, he sat me down and told me that something was wrong. When I was depressed and cried on his shoulder, and said that I just thought I was getting old and lazy, he knew that things just weren’t right. “Thank you Hon, for everything. You are the world to me.” But things are good in the McClain household now. I am on the road to recovery and the critters bring smiles to our faces all the time. We have a wonderful group of friends here on WDC, and I love reading your blogs. Work is going strong, summer is half way over and we will be heading up north to see my mom, sister, brother and my son and daughter in law next month. I can’t wait !!!!! Keep up the good writing..... |
| Last night around midnight, Mollie and Sherman (our two lab mixes) threw a fit at the front door. By the way they were acting, I knew there was a strange dog on our front porch. I peeked out the window and sure enough, there sat this poor, skinny dog. It was black and looked like either a Rottweiler or a Black and Tan hound. I called our two hounds into the spare bedroom and closed them up. I grabbed the extra dog dish and put some food in it and then I went back to the front door and opened it to take a look at this poor forlorn creature. The dog was gone. It must have heard the commotion coming from inside the house and ran. I went out and whistled and called, but no dog. I knew, just from the quick glimpse that I had of the dog, that it was in real bad shape. I came back in and released my two from their temporary prison and got ready for bed. I left the bowl of food outside in hope this poor creature would find its way back. I had also put some water out. I crawled into bed and David woke up. I told him about the dog, but there really was nothing we could do. I woke up several times and snuck into the living room to peek out the window to see if the dog had returned. There were no signs of it anywhere. The alarm went off at 5am and I got up to get the coffee started and let our dogs outside. I then went in and woke David up for work. By 6:30, he was walking out the door heading to that great retail heaven they call WalMart. About 20 minutes later, our dogs started barking and throwing a fit outside. I opened the back door and called them in and, lo and behold, there was the poor dog from last night standing out by the driveway. I grabbed the leash and the bowl of food and headed out to catch it. As I got near, she tried to run, but ran into the bushed and stopped. She acted lost and real, real scared. I took it easy and talked to her as I eased up to her. She just stood there shaking. I laid my hand on her and she sniffed me. Then I gave her a bit of food. Just a bite or two. She was nothing but a bag of bones, skin hanging and bones protruding all over the place. Then she wagged her butt. You see, she was a Rottweiler and they have to tail to wag. When they way, their whole butt waggles. She turned her head to me and I gasped... her eyes were so infected, they were matted over. She was blind. Then she turned and came over to me and I just about got sick. She had two bullet holes in her. One across the front of her shoulder and one right in front of the hip angling in towards the ribs. The holes where 2 inches wide and so deep that I couldn't see where they ended. She wasn't bleeding, but the holes were gaped open and clear fluid was easing from them. How she was still alive, I don't know. She ate the bit of food I gave her and let me slip the lead over her head. I led her back to the house and tied her to the front porch. When I opened the front door, she tried real hard to come in - and I desperately wanted to let her in, but I wasn't sure what diseases she may be carrying and I couldn't put my dogs at risk. I ran a bowl full of warm water and retrieved a soft cloth from the drawer. I went back out and tried to wipe her eyes out to see if maybe she had some sight left. The infection was so bad, that there was no way I could clear her eyes. I knew there was no hope for this female Rottweiler. With her eyes, the bullet holes and her emaciated condition.... along with other problems, there was no way to save her without spending thousands of dollars. I called several vets to see if they would do a 'mercy' put down. But they all wanted to charge me at least $75 to put her out of her misery. I ended up taking her to our local animal shelter. The guys who work at the shelter were aghast when they saw her. They doted on her and gave her a treat. They put her in a kennel with a outside run and a soft blanket inside for her to lay on. The animal control officer came in and looked her over and then we went into his office to talk. By the way, I was bawling my eyes out the whole time. He confirmed what I had guessed. There was probably no way to save her, and the best thing to do would be to put her to sleep. I had to agree with him. He said they would be gentle with her and let her last day be pleasant. The vet would be by later to do the deed. I walked out of there with a heavy soul. How in the world can any human being let a dog get in such a condition. Her teats almost hung to the ground, so it looked like she was nothing but a puppy producer. She probably outlived her usefulness as a baby maker, and the people just dumped her. In her travels trying to find her home, she was shot and left to starve to death. Here are some pictures... I had one of the bullet wound in her side, but it wouldn't let me upload it. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** I can't imagine what life has been like for this poor dog, the last several weeks !!!! |
| Why do people have to play games in the workforce? No matter what the job, there are games being played and I hate games. I never was one to partake in games of any kind. I don't mind a hand or two of poker, or maybe a round of dominoes, but then I'm done. I just never was a game player. When I had the race horses (Standardbreds, the ones that are hooked to sulkies), there were games played all the time. If you weren't a game player, then you might as well get out of the business. Let me give you an example of one game that was played: The farm that I had my horses at, not only had a mile track to work on, they also had a large swimming pool to work horses in. This was used for horses that needed to stay off the hard surface of the track for various health reasons. Charlie kept his horses stalled just down the isle from me. We became friends and would jog our horses together and turn and train together. He had one horse by the name of Bijuju that he had to swim because his legs were really bad from all the pounding of the track. Charlie hated to swim horses. This entailed leading the horse down a ramp into the pool, then the trainer walked around the pool leading the horse while the horse swam. Depending on the condition of the horse, this swimming session could last from 10 to 30 minutes. You can also train (race horse term for going all out as if in a race) in the pool by tying a rope in the horses tail and positioning him in the middle of the pool. Then you tighten up the lead rope and the tail rope so the horse is stuck in the middle. He has to swim like the devil is after him to remain afloat. You only do this for a few minutes, then you release the tail rope and let him relax and dog paddle again. It's an excellent way to condition a horse without all the trauma and stress on the joints from the pounding on the track. Well, Charlie offered me a proposition. He would work two of my horses out on the track if I would swim Bijuju. I took him up on it, as I didn't mind swimming at all. I worked Bijuju for several months in the pool. They would race him at the track about once a week where he would come in 4th, maybe 5th, even dropping back to 6th. Every once in a while, not to often, he might place 3rd, but then he would fall back to 5th and 6th place for the next race or two. Then one day Charlie came to me and ask me if I would trailer Bijuju to the track to race him. He wanted me to warm him up (we do three warm-ups before the race) and then he had a driver that would actually drive him in the race. You have to have a 'P' license to drive at a parimutuel track, and I didn't have one. "Why aren't you taking him yourself?" I asked Charlie. He told me that he was setting the race up... playing THE game. I was not to tell anyone, but Bijuju was scheduled to win that night. The game plan had been set. Charlie said that he and his son were going to bet at the Bookies (illegal off-site betting parlors) otherwise, if they placed that much money on Bijuju to win at the track, it would bring his odds down tremendously. I just shook my head and said, yes... I would take Bijuju to the track that night. I had $100 on me, but I was a single parent and $100 would pay my electric bill, telephone bill and put a bit of food on my table for my son and I. I fingered that money in my pocket the whole time I was getting Bijuju ready. I warmed him up and finally turned him over to his driver. As I wandered back to the barn, I almost turned to head on over to the grandstand to place my bet. I checked the boards and Bijuju was going off at 70 to 1. That would have made a tasty return for a $100 bet. But if he lost, and anything and everything can affect the outcome of a race, no matter how well it is set up, I would not have grocery money that week. The horse can trip coming off the gate, he can get boxed in by one of the few in the race that aren't 'playing' the game, or he can just get winded and drop back no matter how hard the driver pushes him. When you are a poor, single parent, a $100 is like $1000 to someone else - it's a heck of a lot of money. I stood there and fought with myself as to whether I should or shouldn't go place the bet. My common sense held out and I walked slowly back to the barn to watch the race. I watched as the drivers brought their horses up to the moving gate, gathering speed with every footfall. The bell sounded and the gate swung out of the way and.... THEY WERE OFF !!! I watched as drivers and horses positioned for rail space as they came into the first turn. Every one settled in for the drive around the backstretch and it seemed like it took forever for them to reach the 1/2 mile mark. Then they came up to the far turn and some horses started their move. Bijuju was laying about 5th, in line along the rail, trotting strong. A horse came up beside him, and I thought it was all over. If that horse held on, he would have Bijuju pinned and he wouldn't be able to move on out for the push to the finish. He lay there until he got to the 3/4 pole, then dropped back and Bijuju's driver made his move. He pulled the chestnut gelding out of the line-up and flicked the whip at him to encourage him on. Bijuju took the bait and ducked down and added another gear to his motoring. He pulled up even with the 4th place horse and laid there for just a second. Then he easily left him behind and started making his move on the black who was head and head with the second place horse. Bijuju moved out towards mid track to get around the two of them and passed them with no problem at all. Now only the 1st place horse was ahead of him. They were barreling down towards the finish line. I wasn't sure if Bijuju would have enough track left to catch this horse, but I was wrong to doubt him. Bijuju's driver urged him again with the whip, brushing it slightly against his side. That's all it took !!! Bijuju had just a little extra in reserve and he came up on that 1st place horse like wind before a wildfire. I stood there holding my breath. They were head and head for about 20 feet, then Bijuju gave one final push and crossed the finish line a shoulders length in front of the other horse. HE WON !!! The old horse with the broken down legs, that I had been swimming for nearly a year now, had won. I ran down to the track to retrieve my horse. I took him over to the winners circle to get his official winners picture taken and then took him to the spit barn. We waited there until he finally urinated and the guy with the little cup on the end of a pole got a good sample. Then back to the barn to hose Bijuju off and cool him out. I didn't know if I should jump up and down for his win, or cry !! My 100 dollar bill was still tightly wadded up in my front pocket. I took the harness off Bijuju and hosed him down with some warm water. I threw a cooler on him and walked him until his breathing settled. Then I cross-tied him and brushed him out, gave him a bit to drink and turned him loose in his stall to roll. By this time it was midnight, and I still had the long drive home. I didn't have time to ponder on the money I had just lost. I'm not sure what a $100 bet would have garnered me, but it would have been substantial !!!! I packed up the trailer, grabbed Bijuju, loaded him and headed home. It was a long, lonesome drive home. Things returned to normal back at the barn. Charlie chastised me for not placing the bet. "I told you so," were his very words. About two weeks later, Charlie drove up in his truck and honked. I walked out of the barn and over to the truck. "I want to show you something." He said. There on the passenger side of the seat lay a suitcase. He reached over and popped it open. It was like a scene out of the movies... it was full of cash. He had made the rounds and picked up his payoff from the bookies. I don't know how much he had in there, but he gave me $1000 for what I had done, and it didn't even leave a dent in the pile of money. Games........ games are played every day in every field of work. Some people win, some lose and some of us sort of come in between. Bijuju was sold, as his legs were just to bad to continue on with. I hoped he went to a good home, but I doubt it. The meat trucks always make their rounds picking up the unwanted, the broken and the old. Some horses are lucky and go on to become backyard riding horses, or trail horses... but most don't. It's a sad state, but it exist. Race horse are just a commodity... a money making avenue. When they break down, can't make money, then they are thrown away. There are some of us that value the horse for what they really are, a noble and steadfast animal that will give their all for you, but there are a lot of owners out there that don't care. That's one of the reasons I got out of the race horse business. As much fun as it is to sit behind a horse, his hindquarters so close to you that you can see the ripples flow through the muscles as he moves. To have them lean into your arms as you hold the lines, so that they can balance and give you speed. To feel them ball up and push onward when another horse comes up beside them. Horses are quite competitive amongst themselves and they really do hate to lose. In fact, if you have a horse that loses quite often, then you get with your training buddies back home and plan a race. You go out there and race just like it was the real thing, but you let that horse win. Otherwise, they give up and won't try anymore. They lose confidence. I just wish that the games weren't played. I hate game !!!!! ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
| It's a beautiful morning in East Texas, the birds are singing their morning reveille and moans and groans can be heard trumpeting from the bedroom as Tor tries to climb out of bed and get ready for work !!! I must admit, I am exaggerating a bit here. David is actually doing pretty dang good. I thought he would be a lot more sore than he is. The old trooper surprised me. After a good rubdown with Ben-gay, a bath in Epsom Salts, a handful of Aleve and one vicodin, he is moving around quite well. LOLOLOLOL (oh excuse me, but I still have that image of his disgraceful dismount and the resulting 'THUD' in my memory). Oh, and have you seen who commented in his Blog ??????? You have to go look at his entry and see who showed up !!!!! Here's the link: "Invalid Item" David will be so excited when he gets home and see that this "special" person has decided to comment in his blog !!! LOLOLOLOLOLOL I do hope that we hear more from this person, it would be REALLY REALLY INTERESTING to hear a story or two from him. I went out to the pasture yesterday and lunged 'Time' with the saddle on. She was no trouble at all. This weekend we will get up on her and do some riding. She is no jug head, that I can tell you. She has places to go and things to do and she isn't hesitate about getting them done. She is one horse that I won't have to kick to make her go, just the opposite...... I will have to remind her to slow down and take her time and relax ! I love a horse that has momentum, they are so much more fun to ride. It gets tiresome to always have to make a horse go forward. I can't wait to be riding her. Here is a picture I snapped yesterday as she was walking through the pasture. She is still a bit unsettle in her new surroundings, plus she is in season (ready to breed) and is a bit restless. Hopefully, next month when she comes back into season, we will be ready to breed her. I just found a stallion in Ohio that I really like. His bloodline complements 'Times' and I think it should make an excellent cross. This is 'Time' in her pasture: {c} ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
LOLOLOLOLOL  LOLOLOLOLI can't help it, I'm still laughing and I am really ashamed of myself.... NOT !!! LOLOLOLOL "OhhhhhhhhhhhOuchOhhhhhhhh" grumbles David in the background! "Hush Up, Honey," I holler over my shoulder. "I'm trying to do my blog." "OuchOhhhhhhhhOuch," he cries. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL I know you all want to know what in the world had me laughing so hard that I couldn't see for the tears in my eyes..... Well, it started like this......... David's daughter loves horses and she called this morning to see if they could come over to visit and see 'Time'. They planned for late afternoon and David put a brisket in the oven and I fixed some baked beans and potato salad to have when they arrived. We were going to meet over at the pasture and play with "Time" for a bit, then come back to the house to eat and visit. David and I left a bit early and fed 'Time' and then groomed her and had her coat shining in the afternoon sun. She is a bay, a redish brown color with a black mane and tail and black legs. We combed out her tail until it flowed softly down towards the ground, and brushed her mane free of any tangles. She ate her grain, took a few bites of hay then came out of her stall to stand next to us wanting some more loving. I put her halter on her and ran my hands over her sleek hide. David was on the other side petting her and feeding her an apple. "OHHHHHHHHHhhhhh OUCHHHHHHHHHHHHh," cries David. "Oh Honey, just take a vicoden and go to bed. It's hard to concentrate with you making all the noise in the background!" I growl at him. LOLOLOLOL Ok, where were we........oh, standing next to 'Time' and feeding her an apple and petting her...... Well, I glanced up at David and casually said, "Honey, do you want to jump up on her bareback?" Now I really thought David would laugh and say.... "Yeah right, no saddle and she hasn't been ridden in two years and you want me to jump right on bareback.... I THINK NOT !!! But he straighened up that 57 year old body and I could see that he was losing all sense of reality. I saw that fearless stupid teenager struggling to take over that aged body and sure enough, the stupid won out. GROANNNNNNNNN, OUCHHHHHHHHH, OHHHHHHHHHH He came over and stood next to 'Time' and said, "Well, Honey... I know I can't jump up on her from here like I use to be able too." "Well, I can walk her over to the stump over there if you want." I couldn't believe that he really wanted to try to get on her bareback. I mean, she hasn't been ridden in a long time, and I planned on doing a lot of ground work with her before we saddled her and got on. "Yeah, that'll work." He replied. OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, OUCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH So I walked her over to the stump and she was a bit antsy as I moved her close enough for David to throw a leg over her. I couldn't, for the life of me, believe that he was going to try this !!!! OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH IT HURTS. OUCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I held 'Time's head as he leaned over her back and threw his leg over. He looked so gallant sitting up there..... LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL It must have lasted all of four seconds. Then 'Time' tucked her head and humped her back and gave a mighty buck (well, it wasn't really mighty, it was just a little crow hop). But that's all it took.......... LOLOLOLOLOLOL HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE The next thing I know, David went flying threw the air, bounced off her butt and then did a swan dive into the ground........ LOLOLOLOL He landed on his hip and then rolled over onto his back. 'Time' looked back at him and I swear she chuckled. SO DID I. LOLOLOLOLOLOL GROANNNNNNNNNNNN, OUCHHHHHHHHHHH, OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH GOD HELP ME I started to laugh. I couldn't help it. There lay the cowboy, his body prone on the ground and there stood 'Time' looking down at him with look of triumph in her eyes. She was just daring him to try that again. LOLOLOLOL..... there were tears running down my cheeks I was laughing so dang hard. I went over to make sure he was alright and he swore at me !!! My dear, lovable honey... swore !!!! LOLOLOL He looked so sweet laying there in the muddy ground, 'Time' standing there looking down at him. I asked him if he was alright. YOU KNOW WHAT HE SAID? "JUST GO AWAY, GET THE H*## AWAY FROM ME !!!!!! LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL So I grabbed Time's lead rope and she and I went for a walk around the pasture, back in the shade of the trees. We talked and laughed at what she had just accomplished. We came around and walked up and there he lay, in the same spot..... prone, flat on his back, groaning and moaning. LOLOLOLOL Oh, that picture will be forever burnt in my memory. A little buck, the cowboy flying through the air and that sound........... like Wiley Cyote when he falls off the cliff and hits the ground.........'SPLAT'. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL Oh he swore, he groaned, he growled and he said things my innocent ears had never heard before...... my dear sweetie. Well, to make a long story short, he got up and walked around, a bit stooped over and slow, but he was walking. Melissa and her boyfriend drove up about that time and they all came out to pet and love on 'Time'. She loved it. But I swear, she still had that smirky smile on her face whenever she looked at David. Well the visit went well and everyone got a great laugh at David's expence when I told them what they missed. Now the company is gone, the house is quiet....except for all the groaning and muttering coming from the couch where David is busy arguing with that damn teenager that lives in his head and keeps getting him in trouble! Here is a picture of 'Time' with Paula.... our soon-to-be granddaughter! ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
| The telephone rang and David nudged me to quickly pick up the phone. “That may be them,” he said. Caller ID confirmed his theory and I answered it on the second ring. “Well we are just coming into Livingston,” Cathy said, “Where do you want us to meet you?” I gave her directions to a small church near us and told her we would meet her there and then she could just follow us in to the pasture. She was carrying precious cargo.... our Morgan mare !!!! You see, this mare is special, to both David and I. She brings back something to both of us that we lost a long time ago, something neither of us thought we would ever have again. I have always had a love for horses. I know, most little girls do, but mine was different. It was more than just a love, it was like a part of me was missing and horses filled that vacant spot within me. By the time I was 10 years old, I did nothing but talk horse. I read everything I could about them, their training, their bloodlines, their care and their beauty in art. There is just something about them that tugged at my very soul. Since I couldn’t have a ‘real’ horse at the time, I had paper cutouts that I had gathered from various magazines and picture books. Included were bay horses, gray horses, chestnut horses, palomino horses, perlino and cremello horses.... you name it, and it was there. Of course all of these horses were named and had their own stall in my stable of expandable folder files. I also collected horse figurines of various sizes and composites. They ranged from a miniature rearing stallion and his mares and foals made of porcelain to some giant Beyer models that stood a foot high. I had an amazing collection of horse books from all over the world. They probably would be worth some money if I still had them today. By the time I was 18, I had over 350 books in my equine library. I could sit down with the best of them and talk “horse”. I finally realized my dream when I was 16 years old and “Llano Fellow” came into my life. That was the beginning of a wonderful relationship that lasted four years. Llano was a four year old registered Quarter Horses that I bought from a local gal in town. She was heading to college and needed to sell him. He became my night and day. That horse and I were just about inseparable. I would jump out of bed early in the morning, saddle up and off we would go to explore and discover new sights and sounds, not returning home til late in the afternoon. We covered hundreds of miles together. He was the horse I was riding when I saw the train accident where a man was killed. I wrote about that in another blog. I drove my mother batty as she never knew exactly where we were, just that we were ‘out’ riding. She would never relax until she saw Llano and I meandering up the driveway after a days outing. From there I went on to work and train Morgan horses on a professional level. I fell in love with the Morgan horse, their beauty and versatility. I traveled all over the United States showing Morgans, from the East coast to the West during the 1970‘s and 80‘s. About 15 years ago, I sold my last filly and was never able, financially to return to horses. I always dreamed, always fantasized, always hoped that one day I could have a Morgan in my life again. Well that day happened when David and I sat there in that little church parking lot and saw the truck and trailer coming down the road. We blinked our lights at them and led them down the dirt road to the pasture where we were going to keep our new Morgan mare, “Time.” Her registered name is ‘Time Will Tell’. Her daddy is one of the most prolific stallions of the breed. He was only eight years old when he died from a severe case of founder, twenty years ago. But his children and grandchildren can be found throughout the Morgan show ring to this day. Although there are many grandchildren and great grandchildren, there aren’t many children left, ‘Time’ is one of the last. She is 20 years old this year. She looks a lot like her daddy with that big eye and expressive look about her. She carries herself with pride and can still ‘kick ass’ when she trots. I turned around as we pulled into the driveway of the pasture, and still couldn’t believe that my dream had come true. In that trailer was my Morgan mare. David and I walked back to the side of the trailer waiting for Cathy, as she got things ready to unload. I looked up and there looking back through the slats were those big Morgan eyes. I couldn’t help it, I started to cry. I put my head on David’s shoulder and told him that I was going to cry, and he hugged me and chuckled. He knew what this meant to me. Tears were streaming down my cheeks as they opened the trailer door and led ‘Time’ out. She was beautiful. My 20 year old Morgan mare. She stood there like the princess she was and looked around. I took the lead rope and lifted her head and sure enough, she stretched right out in that magnificent Morgan pose, her head held high, those wide, expressive eyes taking everything in. I don’t remember much after that. There was storm rolling in and the rain was beginning to fall and the thunder rolled in the background. I know I walked ‘Time’ around the pasture a bit and then put her in her stall. I had planned on leaving the stall door open so she could come and go as she pleased, but with the storm advancing, I decided to close the door and keep her in for the night. David agreed that was probably the best thing to do, since she didn’t know the pasture boundaries and we didn’t want her running through a fence the first night here. Like a trooper, ‘Time’ settled right in with a fresh flake of hay, clean cold water and a bit of grain. It was hard leaving her, I could have happily laid my sleeping bag down right there in the stall with her and spent the night, but David thought that was a ‘bit’ extreme, so we heading home. She is a beauty, what can I say. She is a young 20 year old mare, healthy and full of spirit. I am hoping that we can get her bred and this time next year, we may be looking forward to a “Little Time” running around. She is broke to ride and drive and is gentle as a lamb. I will take some pictures this weekend and try to get them posted. Below is a picture of her daddy: Wham Bam Command being shown under harness at a Morgan show. He was Park Harness champion and Park Saddle champion many times over. That was one of the reasons he died so young, his owner got winners fever and pushed the horse, going from one show to the next with no rest, always wanting those championship purple and gold ribbons to show off to his friends. The stress of being on the road and showing weekend after weekend finally caused ‘Wham’ to founder. It was a bad case and they finally had to put him down as the pain was to great for him to tolerate. But he left behind a legacy in his foals. A legacy that we happen to own just a bit of in his daughter “Time Will Tell”. This is Wham Bam Command: ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
| Mouse Potatoes..... That is what we are turning into. We have created a generation of Mouse Potatoes. We were born into the Couch Potato era where the invention of the television curtailed our outdoor activities and furniture stores made a killing selling nice, big, overstuffed couches. Now wee are turning into Mouse Potatoes. I am not much of a television watcher. Before the birth of home computers, I use to come home from work and take a minute or so to grab a nice ice cold drink out of the refrigerator and watch a bit of the local news. Then I would get bored and head outside to either play around in my flower gardens, clean up the yard or take the dogs out for a run or work a few horses. I was the epitome of good health, tall, slender and tan. While my friends parked their hinneys on the couch to watch TV all evening, I was out swimming or walking or just doing stuff... outside. They would all talk about the latest new show that aired the night before, or share their views on who was doing what to who on their favorite soap operas while I just sat there, not having any inkling as to what in the world they were talking about. But I didn't really care. I enjoyed my time outside and when the sun would finally rest in the western sky, I was ready for bed. While their fannies where spreading out from tv-itis, mine was staying shapely and fit. But then someone came along and invented this thing called the internet. That would have been ok, but they then made it available to the public. WWW took it's stand right there next to the TV. At first I didn't bite. I yawned and ignored all this hoopla about computers and the internet and continued enjoying my life free of all this 'new-age' electronic stuffage. Then my son turned 16 and he was begging for a computer for Christmas. As luck would have it, at this same time, the school district I worked for was buying all new computers for all the schools, and because of this mass buying, were offering all the employees a chance to buy brand new computers at really low discounted prices. So this time I did take the bait. I bought my son and I a Gateway computer complete, ready to hook-up and go. We signed up with AOL and created email addys and screen names ... we were in the 'modern' age now !!! I set down some rules, as I wasn't naive... I had heard all about the corrupt, bad things that a computer could cause it's user to get into, and away we went on this great ride in cyberspace. At first I was very tentative as to what buttons I pushed or where I went. I was just a bit intimidated by this whole new world that was open to me. My son just flew around the internet like he flew around the local roads in his car... way to fast for my liking. Just like TV was for so many of my friends.... the Internet became addicting to me. It didn't happen overnight.... it took awhile, but day by day, week by week... over the course of several months, I found myself rushing home from work to sit in front of the computer exploring this fast bowl of knowledge that sat before me. Before long, I would find myself still at the computer come bed time... my flower beds totally neglected, my dogs waiting for their walk and my muscles turning to flab !!! I even created my own chatroom on AOL.... I don't know if I have blogged about that or not.... but it was quite a experience, let me tell you !!!! Talk about an eye opening encounter... woohooo!!!! Before I knew it, I had become a MOUSE POTATO !!! The great outdoors no longer existed for me. Why in the world would I want to go outside and get my hands dirty working in the yard when I could sit here and travel the world? Why would I want to get sweaty and tired from walking the dogs when I could visit places, see things and meet people that I would never have an opportunity to do in 'real' life? Right there in the comforts of my living room !!! You see.... MY NAME IS MELINDA AND I AM ADDICTED TO THE INTERNET! I sit here now trying to talk myself into heading out the door. It is a beautiful day here in East Texas with temps up around 80 and the sun hidden by a hazy sky. I keep telling myself I should get up and do something... but then I go to google, one more time... to look up something and before I know it, another couple hours have gone by. MOUSE POTATO.... that's what I am. Ok, I need to get up and head outside... the sun is peaking out through the clouds and shining in the window. It looks beautiful out, the trails behind the house are beckoning and the dogs are longing for a good run. Oh... but there is one more little thing I want to look up... on google.... that will only take a second................................. !!! |
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