Enjoy It, Live It

You just never know, do you? It smacks you upside the head occasionally. Just when you get bored or complacent or frustrated over little everyday details someone important to you is gone and you have to look at your tinsy little problems in a different light.
Molly Ivins died today. And she was only a little older than me and was still so full of piss and vinegar. I could count on one hand and take away the thumb how much older than me she was. Damn.
I'm going to miss her sassy tongue. Ann Richards, Molly Ivins... Who will we look to for the truth now? I'm going searching, so to hell with the dirty dishes and unmade bed.

Barbaro was euthanized this morning. It was the right thing to do. He was gorgeous, brave, willing, and too young to die. But I also think he was too young to race. I look at my little Bella getting ready to turn two and I feel so badly for the racing thoroughbreds that get started in their second year. So much bone growth and development is yet to happen and too much stress on these tender bones is dangerous.

Rest in Peace Barbaro.

Happy House

Our friends and their friends came for a visit. Our friends brought their dogs, two darling and lively Cocker Spaniels. Our cats are sticking pretty close to the safety of their upstairs. Floyd has to do the occasional wall-walk, tail flip, in-your-face stretch which puts the whole animal tantrum in full swing. Can't we all just get along?

Dinner last night was so much fun with Carne Asada until our tortillas runneth over. Tonight will be multiple choices of shrimp dishes. We will go buy our jumbo shrimp later this morning when the shrimpers are in port. Meanwhile, we've replenished our cupboards with all the good stuff these guys were sweet enough to bring down to us. The wine was amazing but this morning it looks like the red is too popular and we'll be suffering with beer tonight. Beer and shrimp. Yes, that works.

The State of...
I would really like to say something important and smart after watching the State of the Union speech tonight but I'm too hoarse from yelling at the TeeVee.

I need to remove myself from all this ******** and stick my head in the sand and pretend it doesn't matter at all.

There's one more cowgirl in heaven today. Dale Evans and Annie Oakley had better welcome her with open arms because she's a wonderful addition.

Bella is showing lots of attitude and has started to come to my whistle since I give her a nice crunchy bucket of yummies then. I have also insisted that she not crowd me in the stall door when said bucket is delivered, and she is following that rule perfectly. This halter is an Average Horse size and was so big on her a few short months ago. Now she is growing into it.

La Luna

Guess who moved the camera right at the moment of click. I think it looks like jewelry, though, but that wasn't what I was looking for. Now I will wait another month to try to catch the syzygy.

Happy New Year's Day

A busy day full of friends goes in between those pictures. You knew I had to post a sunrise on day 1 of 2007.

I hope yours was relaxing and reflective.

I just want to give a big thumbs up, high five, and peace sign to Betty Ford. She has more than stood the test of time and come out ahead. She is the best.

Mercury in Retrograde?

Whatever. My DSL modem bit the dust, TV quit receiving signal, and I fell and scraped my palm.

It could be so much worse. Funny how it happens in clusters though.

I took Bella's mama for a ride out in the desert yesterday and enjoyed watching Bella move. When we got to a piddling puddle of a lake where the cattle still get a drink, Bella rolled down in it over and over. Then got out and rolled in the dirt until she looked like a muddy little boy. I chose not to rinse her off once we got home even though she smells like cow dung. That mud-bath must be good for her hide and she seemed quite proud of herself.

I got a new modem today and "initialized" it myself after reading the booklet in Spanish. It's getting easier.

Oh dear. A Hello Kitty toaster. Kitchen bling, I guess. Target was practically giving them away yesterday but I still couldn't buy one. Don't need it, don't want it, don't want to put it in my kitchen.

I did watch Wordplay last night and loved it. I hear Will Shorts, the puzzle master, on NPR almost every Sunday morning with Leanne Hanson.

Christmas Visits

I'm almost done with all my traveling, visiting, cooking, eating, buying. I just need to get back home now and get a good night's sleep.

I'm not very good without a fast computer connection and short sleeved shirts. Funny how quickly I became accustomed to high speed and am appalled that dial-up is still around. I also don't care for this frost warning business or worrying about snow in the higher elevations.

I'm really missing my little Bella, too. I bought a small 25 lb. bag of flax seed and will start incorporating a little into her diet. Has anyone else ever fed their horse flax seed? I think I need to grind it in the coffee grinder or soak it in a little warm water.

Check it out

Floyd didn't know I had my camera at the ready.

Chester is one of those tigers with a white bib and Nancy Sinatra white boots on his back paws. He has let me be his mother for 10+ years. We put some excitement in his life when we brought Floyd home. Floyd is a typical plain-jane tiger with very little white except right under his chin. Chester knows he is a cat, Floyd does not. Overall they are very close buddies even though their personalities are so different.

One of my last trips back to the states I brought back a water fountain for them. Chester is a very good drinker but he is also pretty picky about the water vessel. It really needs to be a topped-off cup of water right out of the faucet in the bathroom (right! faucet water in Mexico) and nice and cold. He doesn't trust this new fangled fountain at all. It hums and it worries him. He would even prefer drinking the excess water under the potted plant. Floyd on the other hand has tried this $50 cat dish a few times and is pretty unimpressed. I think he's probably using it in the middle of the night when I'm not looking.

With the weather so cool at night now it seems I have a herd of cats in bed with me. When my husband snores, I believe the cats think he is purring loudly which means, "Come on to bed." And they do. So I have 3 guys tucked up against my hot flash body and everybody is purring while I try to untuck and stick arms and legs out into the cool air. It's so much fun...

65th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor

Merely 2 days before Pearl Harbor Day our bay is loaded with pelicans dive-bombing the minnows. Many more are on large, gliding circles as they spy-plane for the Kamikazes. It gives me time to reflect as I watch them splash down.

I have two old friends, one of Swedish decent, the other of Japanese decent. Both are from many, many generations of Americans. These girls never fail to call each other on Pearl Harbor Day and blow air-kisses to each other.

Have you ever been to the Pearl Harbor Memorial? It's pretty amazing and I hope you have a chance to see it someday. It's built right on top of the sunk USS Arizona. It's eerie and yet lovely. When you book that lavish trip to Hawaii be sure to add in a half day for a visit to this memorial.

The water in the bay went from 90 to 70 in a blink of an eye. Two wet-suited snorkelers were enjoying the views down under and diving for morsels. We must be in for a great full moon today or tomorrow because the tides are ultra low. I love tide charts *Stop Yawning* and figuring out the best time to tide pool.

My First Horse

She was considered a "grade mare" or even a funny looking stage-coach horse by the other barn girls. We all decided she was a cross between a Belgian and a Quarter Horse. I didn't care what she was. I just wanted to be with her as much, as often, and as long as I could. I laughed along with my girlfriends as she extended her trot and refused to break into a nice collected canter. It tickled me to pieces that she would stand calmly as we girls talked our teen aged gossip and their thoroughbreds fidgeted and balked. Holly would do just about anything I asked, and I asked her to perform more like a $1000 horse than a $100 auction horse. She was a field horse, not a barn beauty. She was sound as a dollar and there were only two times we asked the vet to look at her. The first was when we pulled a 4 inch rusty nail out of her right fore and the second was when we asked the vet to stick his arm all the way into her to find out if she was pregnant. The nail produced no after effects and the pregnancy test produced a black filly some months later.
Holly jumped everything I pointed her at, and with her big gullumping stride we covered lots of ground in the hunt field. The one hunt class I entered her in was a disappointment due to 8 of us going clean and only 7 ribbons presented. It was beyond the judge to give us a nod as all the expensive horses circled around at the trot. We were the one team excused. It certainly wasn't Holly's fault, or even mine. We had practiced and practiced. It was more a sign of the times where the long and lovely horses were worshipped and the warm bloods were still considered plough horses.
To consider selling Holly to upgrade to a fancy horse was never a possibility, financially or emotionally. Holly was my horse. She was MY horse. I was her girl. We ate lunch together, her grazing on fresh spring grass while I sat backwards and used her big butt to spread out my sandwich and chips.
I learned some valuable life lessons with this mare. I learned alot about myself. She probably taught me more about patience than anything else in my life ever did. And she taught me to know that the nicest looking horse in the barn isn't necessarily the best.

We were just gone a couple of days for Thanksgiving and were welcomed back this morning. I know, Again with the Sunrises?!!

I didn't have enough turkey and so will have to make one myself. I love a turkey dinner almost as much as a meatloaf dinner. Comfort food abounds.

Both of these lovely mares have passed on this year. Both were first horses for these lucky women on their backs. I think you might be able to see how comfortable they all are by the good seat position and tail set. The women loved and cared deeply for their mares and in return both got back total trust and loyality. It's never easy, but seems especially hard when such an honest partner in life is gone. Yesterday was our day to say good-bye to Champagne and the loss is felt by so many.

Hip Hop/Rap

Can anyone help me with a song title and/or who the singer is? I only know a couple of the words but find the song pretty catchy and would like to add it to my iPod. There is something about a Supermodel and being built like a Coke bottle and then a lot of heavy breathing. I think. That might be in another song. I've heard the song maybe 4-5 times and have never heard the title. I've tried iTunes for help but still haven't come up with the right song.
Thanks.