To Everything There Is A Season

...and this has been a season of goodbyes.  I resisted writing this post, but I knew I couldn't write about anything else until I got this out.  

You all know how much I love Maggie Mae, and how much concern I have over her age-related issues.  (Newbies:  She's a 30+ yr old thoroughbred.)  Lately, I've worried about her eye sight.   Her cataracts are growing and I don't know how she will react to near blindness.  Friends have assured me that I have things in place to help her feel secure even without the sense of sight.  I hope so.  I've battled her weight issue... it's been hard keep her at a healthy weight.  She can't chew well, so I make her a mash.  I finally started mixing my own recipe that seemed to get over a hurdle with her metabolism.  She has finally started to regain muscle mass.  Even though her physical condition is better than it was a year ago , I still planned in my mind the things I would do when it was 'her time'.

I vowed to never again part with Maggie Mae.  She will be here until the end.  That means that I needed a plan in place to take care of the inevitable.  I already had someone volunteer to dig the hole and help take care of the burial.  I'm not gloomy... just practical.  I had no idea that I would make that call so soon.  I was especially taken aback by the fact that it wasn't Maggie...

September 11.  That date has significance to most of us.  Now it has more to me... 

Everything was fine that day.  We were in a drought, so the horses were really enjoying all the daily pasture time.  I called them in for 'brunch' (my horses are on 2nd shift) and the three of them eagerly came.  Buddy and Nekoda ate in the stalls, while Maggie stood in the aisle for her mash.  Maggie is slow to finish her meal.  I was busy inside the house when Mr J asked me if I wanted him to let the horses out...

Returning, Mr J said, "You need to look at Buddy.  He's really sick."  

I don't want to rehash all the details here... the wound is still too fresh.  I will share that we had two vets come out and misdiagnose him.  When I finally took him to an equine hospital on Tuesday afternoon, it was too late.  They tried their best, but it was one of the worst cases of choke he'd ever seen.  He told me to take Buddy home and pray.  The doctor assured me he wasn't in any pain, but by the next day he would start to suffer.  If I didn't get a miracle that night, Buddy had an 'appointment' the next noon.

That evening I watched the sunset from Buddy's favorite pasture.  I sat in the grass beside him and prayed for a miracle that didn't come.  We buried him at noon on Wednesday.  

Rest in peace, Buddy, dear friend.

No matter how much

our hearts were broken,

no one grieved as much as Nekoda.

She looked for him for days.

To be continued...

Two Wolves... food for thought

I don't know who wrote this to give credit...  It came to me in an e-mail today, and I thought it was worthy of sharing. 

           One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.  
           He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.

"One is Evil - It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

"The other is God - It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: 

"Which wolf wins?"

 The old Cherokee simply replied,

           "The one you feed."

 

 

Thanks friends for hanging with me during my extended break.  I will be returning very soon.  Don't forget about the giveaway!  I didn't...,

Oceanic Blog-A-Thon 2010

That's right... it's time for Oceanic Blog-A-Thon 2010, hosted by Crazy Cris over at Here and There and Everywhere, in celebration of World Oceans Day.

Actually, World Oceans Day was June 8th, but better late than never!  Being tied up in the real world, I didn't hear about it early enough to work on a post, but here's a link to last year's post.  I reread it and found it still very relevant.  Cris has lots of new posts for this year, so hop on over and check it out!

With the events unfolding in the Gulf, what better time than now to explore and reflect on this vast watery world.  I would like to wish you all Happy World Oceans Day, but lately, when I think about the oceans, I get really sad...

A Quick Note on Mother's Day

I know it's not Mother's Day... but since I've been so busy with the new baby, I'm a tad bit behind.  (OK, tad means a very small amount... so I'm more than a tad behind.)  Anyway, before it turns into winter again, I wanted to share my Mother's Day flowers with you!

The gorgeous lilies in the back are from my daughter Jen.  I planted them by the kids' swing set.  They wanted a flower garden in front of their club house, so that is the start.

The bouquet in front is my favorite!   Sorry, Jen, but you've been outdone again by Lexi.  Ever since we've lived here, Lexi has picked wild flowers to bring to me.  I was always afraid she'd end up with a weird rash, but so far so good.  She always takes such care to choose which flowers go in her arrangements.   Sometimes her arrangements are symmetrical, sometimes not. She usually tries to find a big variety of hues, but right now, yellow is her favorite color.  She decided on some tall, airy ones for the back-side, with shorter bright ones for the front...  and a touch of lavender for punch!  I think she has a talent for floral arrangements.

I remember picking wildflowers along the road for my mom, but mostly we brought her those bright yellow ones that appeared in the lawn.  Did any of you do that?

Time for Grandkids

Just thought I'd post a few recent pics of the new grandson with my youngest granddaughter.

Although Brady adores his cousin Melody, he refuses to smile for the camera.  No matter how funny something is, when the camera comes out, the expression goes serious!  Mommy said he got that from Daddy; he hates the camera, too.

Brady had fun squirming around on Melody's lap.  Good thing it's a big chair.  She's only three years older, so he's a lap-full for her.

Just like big people, it melted her heart when he smiled at her. 

This is my favorite shot:

Seems they both really love to watch Dora!

...and each other.  

I simply must brag on the intelligence of Melody's older sister Grace.  Gracie is five and just finishing kindergarten.  I was trying to trick her last week, but couldn't because she's so smart!  She told me that she's not really smart.  I said, "Yes, you are very smart.  I bet you know the capital of Mars."  She asked, "Is capital the big or the little letter?"  I said, "The big ones."  "Oh, then 'M'."  Now, is that genius or what?

Thank you, Tioga!

You may call it OCD, but I've been tracking what states and countries have visited my blogs.  It's an obsession.  I posted about it back in November, when I was visited by Bydgoszcz, Poland.  That day, I passed a thousand cities.

As of today, I've been visited by over sixteen-hundred cities around the world.  That amazes me!  Blogging has made the world a much smaller place... more like a neighborhood.

It used to feel like this...

 Now, it feels more like this...

I had a goal to be visited by all 50 states.  Delaware, North Dakota, and Rhode Island were the last holdouts... until this week.  Yep, all three showed up on my visitor widget.

So thank you, whoever you are, for visiting me today from Tioga, a city way up in the northwest corner of North Dakota.  Tioga is the Iroquois Indian name for Peaceful Valley.  My life is complete.