Back To Blogging – Galloping Through

After a long hiatus, with a sculpture delivery road trip, followed by a complete technical breakdown, I’m back. I had a marathon 3 hour talk with Apple support. This led to an erasure of my computer, then I reconstituted it, and updated it. And finally, the big problem turned out to be with the hosting service (with whom I had spoken more than ten times). After the ordeal with Apple, when things were still not right, Hostgator admitted that they had made a mistake and were sorry.

So, I am sorry to have been away for such a long time that I hardly know how to get back on track. When I left off, we were leaving for a long trek east with the Mater sculpture. We were fortunate with the weather, had an uneventful drive, stopping at every rest area to stretch our legs, and delivered Mater safely to her home at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart. There was a bit of a problem in that the architects had not adhered to Harry’s instructions for the size of the alcove in which the sculpture was to be installed. It was too small. But that will be fixed, and the site will be even better for the delay, so it was not a disaster.

A real treat on the trip was the opportunity to see old friends. Unfortunately, I did not take many pictures. Our friend, Mary, another artist, and a scholar, picked us up and took us to a delightful outdoor lunch, and a visit to the National Cathedral for a glimpse of her friend, Frederick Hart’s magnificent work. Rick Hart, sadly, died fairly young, in 1999. We last saw Mary in September of 1994! We managed to pick up as though no time had passed. And in a strange synchronicity, Hart’s smaller works are represented by the same gallery that sells Harry’s artwork, Fine Art Gallery in Chesterfield, Missouri. A small world, indeed.

We also connected with Harry’s childhood friend, Steve, and his wife Cary, and son Charlie. Steve and Harry have been pals since early childhood and through lives that took different directions. Steve was chief of cardiology at Johns Hopkins, so his friendship has come in handy with some of Harry’s troubles in the past few years. More importantly, they are great fun to be with, and we were lucky to see them.

On the way back westward, we stopped in Zanesville, Ohio and visited Alan Cottrill, a sculptor there. It was fun to listen to the two artists compare notes, and fascinating to see Alan’s studio. He is very prolific, and, like Harry, does not want to retire, though he has prepared side by side sarcophagi for himself and his wife in anticipation of the final retirement that is inevitable.

Once home, it was time to get back to work. Harry went straight to the studio, and I hopped on Stone to ride. Jane and Susan had been over to Happenstance on Friday morning to school. Saturday was a very early start, bringing the horses in through the dark to head over to the horse show at 7 AM. Alas, it rained, which was a shame for Susan’s first show. It was also fairly miserable for all, but the horses were good sports (especially the Irish horses). Stone won two red ribbons (I went off course in one class). Susan and Oisin finished their day by winning the Intro Rider Jumper class, and Jane and Derry won both of their classes. We returned home soaking wet, but happy.

Sunday brought better weather, but Susan was felled by a migraine, so could not follow up on her success. Jane was Champion Low Adult Jumper and 3rd in the Mini Prix, and Stone moved up to Intro Jumper and finished his day with a blue ribbon.

Yesterday, Monday, was a bit of a rough start. Susan and Harry and I rode. It was a lovely, cool morning, and the horses felt great, the ring was well watered by the rain and Jane had worked it beautifully last week. Unfortunately, Bart fell down, quite dramatically as we were cantering. He is so athletic, that he managed to regain his feet without falling over, but he hit his leg so hard he drew blood, even through his galloping boot. We cold hosed, and iced, and now we are waiting for tincture of time to work its magic. I am hoping the leg is just bruised. Harry said watching the fall took two years off the remaining years of his life.

It is so good to be back to our animals! They were well cared for in our absence, but we missed them.

The outdoor cats didn’t notice our absence, but Roscoe was very happy to see us, as were the dogs.

Today, we stopped at Fine Art in Chesterfield, and I had my camera with me.

While we were away, the stream stopped flowing again. Connie came out today to do the final fix, we hope. The pump is so strong, it keeps sucking small rocks in, which stops it working. So, Connie changed out the small rocks around the pump for bigger ones.

*Connie hoping she will never see this place again*

Best of all, today, I saw a familiar turtle coming out of the zinnias. I was running late for something, and was delayed in the barn. Annoyed, I was rushing to the house and happened to cross paths with a turtle, which changed annoyance to joy. Had I been on the schedule I planned, I would have missed the turtle.

Stay safe, stay well. Peace.

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