As I set off to ride this morning, it felt like I had a thorn in my knee. I dropped my breeches and discovered I had been bitten by an arrowhead spider (not at all toxic) that was inadvertently in my pants! Ack! I’m glad it wasn’t a brown recluse!
A very tiny spider with a very identifiable marking
On the pasture fence, I saw a turkey vulture. It’s unusual to see one by itself, they are very sociable birds. And they are magnificent. Their bald heads are a temperature regulation adaptation, not, as people used to say, a way of coping with carrion filth. One other interesting thing I learned about buzzards is that they don’t have a voice box, so they can only grunt and hiss, they have no song or call. But they do have a keen sense of smell, handy for locating dead stuff to eat.
The hot Missouri weather has returned, and after all the rain, now it is dry and dusty. Never more than two weeks from drought! I spent the afternoon puttering in the garden, and failed to take many pictures. I had my phone camera, though, and saw these two little characters.
When Marianne was here I got a picture of her wearing a hilarious T shirt.
The Mexican sunflowers are rampant, huge plants. I will not be planting those again next year! Too much greenery and not enough color! The zinnias provide much more liveliness and satisfaction.
Mexican sunflowers on the left, zinnias on the right 
A profusion of volunteer zinnias
When I told Harry that I had hardly taken any pictures today, he suggested I should put in a picture from the past. So here is a picture from August, 1985, my first season as huntsman for Bridlespur, preparing to road hounds. “Roading” hounds is taking them for exercise on horseback along the roads to get fit for hunting. Turns out, 1985 was a long time ago… As you can see, we were not particularly concerned with head injury safety and our route in those days was to road “around the block”, about a five or six mile square of gravel roads from the kennels. All of those rural roads are now blacktop – there are no more gravel roads in St. Charles County. And they are no longer rural, it’s all suburbs now. Houses in the fields.
I was preparing to open the kennel gate and hounds would come spilling out with joy, ready for a brisk trot through the morning mist. What a privilege it was to play that game for five seasons! I have had a most fortunate life. Harry took the picture from the back of his horse, with a compact camera (film, of course).
Finally, from a house in one of those fields we used to hunt through, here is a beautiful Rose of Sharon.
Stay safe, stay well, stay in the moment, but carry the memories along, too.
You have a “pony” tail. How appropriate for a huntsman!
Turn around, Anne, so we can see your smile!