Bluestem Cowgirl--Farewell

Today was a bad day. One of my favorite mares, Hotrod, was found dead in the pasture. In the rain. And cold.

I do not know why. She was only 11 years old. I have had her since she was barely a yearling.

I know I have surely posted these photos before, since they are from August of this year, but I knew where they were and am afraid I will get choked up if I go looking for the perfect pics of her to post.





RIP, my girl.....your good babies will represent you well, and carry on your legacy

Poor dumb whales

Conservation staff in New Zealand have put down 33 stranded whales after several attempts to refloat them failed.

The pilot whales shot Thursday were the last of 99 that stranded themselves Monday on Farewell Spit on the South Island. Department of Conservation area manager John Mason says staff and hundreds of volunteers had tried all week to get the whales refloated.

He says they thought they were successful Wednesday when they got the whales into deep water — but were saddened Thursday to find that they had swum back ashore. He says the condition of the whales had significantly deteriorated.

As well as the 33 whales that were shot, 36 had died naturally since Monday and 17 were successfully refloated. Thirteen remain unaccounted for.

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More scenes from Doha

I am slowly but surely getting through the photos I took on my trip to Doha and Dubai. Today is a selection of photos almost all taken from the Souq Waqif in Doha.

A souq is a market. This particular market is over 100 years old but has recently been renovated some. Unlike the rest of what you see in Doha, it is not all shiny and new, so it has a lot of character. It is chock full of restaurants, art galleries, shisha lounges and shops and stalls selling everything from birds to jewelry to funny colored rabbits to traditional clothing--you name it, you can find it there. Except pecans--you will not find pecans no matter how long four people look and how close it is to Thanksgiving. I am pretty sure they had no idea what the hell we were talking about anyway.

We went several times because it is so much fun, and the character changes from day to night. Its a little disturbing that they have Ben & Jerry's too, but I guess no where is perfect.













I will keep at the photo editing to show you more parts of the trip

Awww....

....Tender Photos Unearthed from a Turbulent Time
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Mildred and Richard Loving on their front porch, King and Queen County, Virginia. April 1965..When Mildred and Richard Loving married in Washington, D.C. in 1958, they didn't think they were breaking the law. Both were from the small town of Central Point, Virginia. Mildred was of African-American and Native American decent and Richard was white. They did know it was illegal for them to marry in their state-as well as 15 others--which is why they left to tie the knot. Within a month of returning home, police burst into their bedroom in the middle of the night and arrested them under the state's anti-miscegenation law. They were sentenced to a one-year in prison term that could be suspended if they left Virginia.

Banished to Washington, D.C., Mildred Loving, who did not consider herself a political person, wrote about her plight to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. The American Civil Liberties Union took up the case and brought it all the way to the United States Supreme Court. In 1967, in a landmark Civil Rights ruling, the court struck down America's laws against interracial marriage.

On the 40 th anniversary of the ruling, Loving issued a statement that read, "I am still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard's and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight, seek in life."

In 1965, Life Magazine sent photographer Grey Villet to photograph the Lovings and their three children. Writing for the New York Times, Villet's widow Barbara recalled that he approached the assignment with the aim of creating a tender family portrait, not an overtly political statement. "He chose as he did in every essay…to seek out the literal heart of the matter: a love story." However, the images were utterly groundbreaking exactly because of the intimate and emotionally transparent way they portrayed a taboo subject.

Filmmaker Nancy Buirski rediscovered Villet's photographs while making a documentary for HBO called The Loving Story. Twenty of the images are on display at the International Center of Photography in New York City from January 20 through May 6, 2012. The Loving Story will debut on February 14.

Updates

Good news-Julie is doing great! She is at home, recovering from two skull fractures and a broken sacrum. She feels like hell, but she is ok. She cannot smell much, and her ears are clogged up but that is likely temporary. She was very very lucky.


In other news, we had Heath's kids this weekend, and the big moments for me came at Tracy's house where we took the boys for their first horseback ride ever. It was not horribly cold out, but riding in the indoor on a retired cutter is a way better introduction to horseback riding than the misery it would have been riding in the wind at the farm. They really seemed to enjoy themselves, which of course gets me so excited for the spring and summer and fall riding opportunities.








Gabe is an animal lover, and is so young, it came easily to him to just roll with it and get his seat. I so wish we could all keep that comfort level you have when you are that young....Ethan relaxed noticeably, the more he rode. I think he may have caught the bug too--I sure hope so! Heath had not ridden in 20 years, so he took a few spins around the arena-- they are at least giving me something to work with here.



All that fresh air and activity can wear some folks out---and Gabe found a cuddle buddy in Tazer---

Prayers needed

My friend Julie--she of the bridesmaid frocks from last weekend--has been in a horse accident, and is in ICU with a skull fracture. I do not know any more than that yet, as she cannot talk and tell us what happened yet, but I am headed to St Louis to be with her family and figure out what is going on.

Pray for her.

Speaking of change

My life certainly has changed over the last few months. Many of you already know this, but it does seem funny that I have not mentioned it on here. So here goes.

My house is not so empty any more--after all the craziness of the last year, re-joining the dating pool (and boy howdy, that ain't for the faint of heart)--I have met an amazing man that I have completely fallen for. He is living here now and I do not know if I have ever been happier in my whole life.

It is not just Heath, but his two sons as well. They are 13 and 7 and somehow, we have all made the transition to living together really easily. It seems like they have always been here, have always been a part of my world and when they are not here, it seems empty. We had a lot of time together over the holidays, as Heath was on vacation for almost two weeks, and it was so much fun.

I sure did not ever anticipate my life taking this particular turn--and that is so foreign to me, as almost everything else in my life has always been meticulously planned and executed--but if this is what happens when you quit doing things the way you are expected to do them and just let things happen--that is going to be my new policy.

Just thought I would share the new developments in my world

Bridesmaid Day

Today was bridesmaids activity day for Julie's wedding in March. I met Julie and Ash at a bridal shop somewhere in the middle of nowhere and Ash tried on some dresses until we settled on one. Julie said we did not have to wear the same dress, but the dress we picked was fine with me, so we are both wearing the dress above. The wedding color is charcoal gray, and the flowers are pink and a reddish black rose. It should be really pretty---but remind me not to stand too close to Ashlyn or I will look like I need to be harpooned.

It is amazing to me how much the world can change. When I first met Julie, in 1994, she was my neighbor in Carbondale. She was married to a complete jackass. I was there when Ashlyn was born and now she is 15--and Julie is finally getting married again--this time to a really wonderful guy. Its so good to see her finally happy, and fun to be a part of it.

Almost everything is done as far as wedding preparations, but we still plotted the details for a few hours after getting the dresses ordered. We went to a hookah lounge for dinner and some lemon-mint shisha, and laughed our fool heads off. There were a few other stops in our day, because we never do anything the normal way--we played with goats, for one thing.

All in all a fun day--