Fleeting May

The middle of May is upon us, and I seem unable to keep up with the pace of life lately! This will be a “too long” post…

Earlier in May, I spent some time at Ali’s to watch Jane and Brett take a lesson, which is always fun. The camaraderie of horses and horse people has been a great benison in my life.

At home, Marianne’s help enables me to spend some time taking pictures of the many arresting sights at Bronze Fox Farm and nearby.

Eddy and Weedy and the cats are a constant source of fun and photos. Eddy has been a rather bad boy, though. He has become obsessed with chasing squirrels and deer, and as I am getting older and weaker, he is getting stronger daily.

We had a nice ride with Marilyn last week, but as we rode around the pasture, Oisin and Jane stepped into a very deep hole. They were not hurt, but it was a serious hole! I went back and filled it in with screenings (small rock). But then it rained and the hole reappeared. Nathan and I decided to excavate, only to discover the problem was quite significant and would require expert attention.

Along with problems, we have also been having some fun. We had lunch with Anne and Ross, our Pike County neighbors and wonderful friends.

Last weekend brought another Happenstance Horse Show. Crumlin went over for a Friday school, and our friend, Jana, texted to say that she was in town for the Queeny Park Horse Trials. We had not seen Jana for several years, and she has two new lovely gray mares, so Jane and I went over to meet up with Jana at the NEC, where horses were stabled for the event. It was too bad to have both competitions on the same weekend, but the horse world consists of parallel universes now. We tend to stay in our own disciplines fairly exclusively. Many aspects of life, not just horses, are specialized, and I think we lose something by being confined to our own narrow interests, not exposed to others. I was lucky to have grown up riding in a variety of disciplines, including hunt racing, which threw Harry into my path. Talk about luck!

Jane and Derry had a great Happenstance Show. As always, I enjoyed the socializing, as did Eddy. Derry was Champion in the division, and an inspiration, as Jane was more than three times the age of every other competitor. An old lady horse showing, riding like a teenager!

A few of many wonders…

Friday and Saturday we had a rare aurora borealis, the “northern lights”, way down south, here in Missouri. We are surrounded by trees at Bronze Fox Farm, so we could not see it, but Nathan shared a picture from his home in Silex. Astonishing!

And now we have had rain. Inches of rain. Erosion repairs are planned, but will be on hold for a long time.

Regardless of weather, Harry works in the studio.

Be well, be grateful. Slava Ukraini! Peace.