Back in the Saddle Again?

My neighbor asked for help in starting his 5 year old gelding yesterday. I told him that I was retired from starting horses, but I would help him do it himself. The more I thought about how I was going to do that the more I realized I was going to need to get back on a horse to show him how do do it. I guess old Bo's 2 year hiatus from being ridden because of of hock arthritis and my bad knees and old age is over. Hopefully. I've yearned to ride again, but I'm overweight and out of shape and my reflexes are so much slower. Right now it's too slick and the snow too deep to start. Come spring.... I'm excited that God had shown me a reason why to start doing what I loved best again.

Blah, blah, blah

Winter goes on and on. Super Bowl is over. Now, sports wise I look for signs of spring. Daytona is next weekend, pitchers and catchers report soon, the Westminister Dog show is next week, Kentucky Derby preps start next weekend and now there's talk of Bracketology. Also Emily talked of being excited for the softball season to start. Sigh...we're getting there.

Happy Twenty Ten

A new year. A new decade. What will it bring? There's hope and there's dread. I always wonder what will I gain and most important to me, what will I lose?

I feel for our patients. The newly diagnosed are in for a helluva year and those that have had disease longer are going to fight for seeing a next year. There is a lot of fear for the families and the patients. It's both tough and inspiring to see. God Bless them.

There are those that want to call this year Two Thousand Ten. Me? I'm a Twenty Ten fan. I never once said Happy One Thousand Nine Hundred Ninety Eight in my life for example. Yup, it's Twenty Ten to me. Less syllables. Economical. (c;

Winter *)d<_!!*&^%@@#$!!)c:

Christmas is over. Now the long haul sets in. It's a long time to April. At least we've got by the winter solstice and the days will slowly get lighter. I bought a Wii for Christmas so I could have some kind of exercise during winter besides feeding livestock. The cat proceded to chew one of the strategic wires in two. Well, it was fun for the first 24 hours. Amazon came to my rescue and a new sensor bar will be here on Tues. I'm probably the first human to go down with a Wii injury on the first day. The next day after several hours of Wiiing, bad choice of words, my hand was almost useless, swollen and couldn't move my fingers. I hope that I'm not out for the season.

New Faces on the Farm

Goats. We're goat rookies. 40 years of raising horses and now I have something that I've always wanted since I was a little kid. Goats. I bought 2 wethers and had no idea that they were so interesting, funny and smart. Stay tuned, and see how much trouble I get into when handling goats. The big one is pretty trained and the younger one is more of a project.

Super Filly

The best racehorse of this century is Rachel Alexandra. She's competed in all levels against males of different ages and beat them all. She doesn't seem to have a peer. I'm just in awe. I wish the rest of the sports media would wake up and show her some attention, but alas, it's the opening weekend of college football, the pennant races are heating up and the US Open is in the second round. After what she did today beating older males she needs attention. We'll see in the sports news cycles tomorrow. Too bad. The general sports public is missing out because of media bias.

Girl Horses Rule!

Time for a sport to finally have a great thing happen. The wonderful filly Rachel Alexandra who seems to have no peer of either sex has given horse racing a huge shot in the arm or rump it seems. She is breath taking and she knows she's good. She is the 21st century Ruffian or Secretariat or both combined. She's giving little horse loving girls a new heroine. I saw a little girl at the Haskell, a 1.2 million dollar race which she trounced the colts again, hold up a sign for Rachel saying "Sure I run like a girl, try and catch me." No one can.

Yikes, it's August!

OMG! It's August already! Soon it will be Christmas! For a non-skier or hunter in Montana it's time to panic. We got jipped on summer! We had one of those heavenly summers that wasn't drought oriented, but was a little cool sometimes. Lots of moisture compared to the past decade. How many hikes or day trips can I cram into August? The sun now sets just to the left of 9pm. It's all ending! Do I go into the mountains and cut a Christmas tree this year or continue to get them from the FFA? Decisions! The week after Thanksgiving I will be thinking, gee whiz, this came up fast. It was just August.

Bozeman Explosion

What can one say about what happened yesterday? Walking across the parking lot after I arrived at work I witnessed Bozeman's biggest crisis. I heard a very loud 'kaboom', then felt a huge concussion which actually felt like a smack on the side of the head, then out of the corner of my eye saw a roof or something fly up into the air from behind the hill where the cemetery is and saw a black mushroom cloud. At first I thought plane crash, then train crash, then earthquake and last of all, explosion. My last assumption was correct. It is a miracle that only one life was lost. It was a miracle that it happened when it did 8:13 am. Boodles restaurant was still closed. So were the other stores. If it had happened later in the morning or afternoon, it would have been a unthinkable. Now the buildings are all gone, over 100 years old and in a split second, gone. It's odd how when a catastrophe happens, especially close to home, it rattles everyone to the core. I sensed a very on edge attitude all day among my coworkers. We will get through this, but the spirit of the residents is shaken to the core, but already a community is united.

Winter Ain't Over Yet

Raging blizzard today, all day. Left work early in case the roads closed, but made it. We really haven't had a big snowstorm in quite a few weeks, in fact I can't remember when. It was becoming all brown and ice. A very mild Feb. Winter came back today. I wish I was in AZ to watch some spring training games. This time of year I can see the light at the end of the tunnel even though it's dim. Baseball has begun, March Madness basketball is imminent, KY Derby preps are starting. Gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. Now when I hear the first Red Winged Blackbird or see the first Robin I'll feel good. That could be anytime. Haven't seen any gophers yet, but they probably knew about this storm. I think it caught us a little off guard. Typical calving season weather and I'm glad I don't own any heifers.

2009

Finally 08 is gone. Not such a great year. It was fine for me except for the loss of Marty. I still miss him terribly and wonder if he is alive or not. I hate not knowing.

Last year I thought, 'crap, another election year'. It proved the usual thing again with all the hate mongering and bashing. I can't stand it. Mr. Obama will have a honeymoon period because we want him to succeed and there's a lot at stake.

My problem is I fear loss and wonder what will I lose this year? What will we lose this year? I know it's a lousy way to feel, but that's how I've always been. Maybe it's a way to lessen any pain if I expect it. I don't dwell in this, but it's a thought I wish I didn't have every January 1st.

In the present. We just have to get through a back to normal winter in Montana. Fun roads to drive on, lots of snow, wild temperatures, etc. The only problem is it doesn't clear out the riff raff anymore. We non skiers just have to keep plugging away and wait for a distant spring.

On my headstone someday - "Spring always comes"

It's Too #$%#@! Cold Out There!!

December in Montana. Not for the faint of heart. Sub 0 temps and snow and wind. It just plain hurts. I envy bears. They eat themselves silly all spring, summer and fall then sleep all winter. Heck they even give birth in their sleep to babies the size of nothing. They are the smart ones.

Saturday we had the Storm of the Century which means we really haven't had one like it since the 90's. Ugly, ugly weather. Sometimes I wonder why I just don't live in a condo with a kitty. Feeding horses and doing chores in this is tough on a 53 yr. old body. The only perk is that the chickens are locked up and I get more eggs that way.

Fall thoughts

A very nice weekend saw me going for my autumn trip to Yellowstone. A 300 mile + day trip. Beautiful day with my Dad. After all he is the reason I get a $15 discount on Yellowstone's entry fee. He loves to go down there, maybe not as much as I, but he had a great time anyway. In the Lamar valley we just missed wolves chasing elk, but that's my wolf luck always down there. I just miss them every single time. Just the usual elk and tons of bison sightings. A raven at the McDonalds parking lot in West Yellowstone put on a show begging for food while sitting on my side view mirror and almost coming in the car. That was all the wild life for the day. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't. The last time I made a fall trip I witnessed elk fighting, too close for comfort buffalo bulls and swans. I never regret a trip to the Park though. It clears the mind and makes me feel whole. It's a feeling all should experience.

Summer's over

The perfect last summer weekend. Although, here in Montana it is starting to look like Fall. The high country colors are starting and we've had snow on the peaks. Today I took a hike with my niece. Actually 2 short hikes about a total of 5 miles in length. Saw a couple of beautiful waterfalls and the woods were peaceful except for a lot of families cramming the last of the season in on the trails. Every one of us greeted each other on the trail. Took pictures for the other. Something about nature on a nice day that creates fellowship. We all know what is coming. The long dark winter and if one isn't a skier like myself, it's too long. In my next life I think I'll be a bear. Eat myself silly all summer and fall, sleep out the winter unfazed and give birth in my sleep to a baby the size of a peanut. Now that's life!

August

My mother would have been 80 years old today. At first I could picture her mourning the thought at turning into an octogenarian. Then I realized she would have preferred that to dying at 58 years old of PSP. I wonder how different our lives would have been if she had not got sick. I would trade it all to have her back and let her see her granddaughter who is walking in her piano playing shoes.

Summer is waning. I miss it already. I am planning future hikes and things left to do in a slight panic because I know what is coming and it seems to go on forever.

ah summer!

I love the sound of a rainbird sprinkler in the evenings like I'm hearing right now. What a pretty summer so far too. I finally have the place the way I want and it's working fine. I get uneasy when I get so satisfied. I have a tendency to wait for the other shoe to drop. I want everything to stay the way it is now. It would be nice if summer in Montana could last forever, but the skiers would hang me. Can't tell I don't ski do you? Winter? I just do chores with a ton clothes on. Right now, chores don't take long and to go outside all I need is a pair of Crocs or tennies. My family always teases me on the Summer Solstice that it now is goint to start going back to darkenss. Not funny! I love summer so much that if I was a pup, I'd roll on it.

A Perfect Weekend

Of course it helps to have perfect weather for Father's Day weekend. I spent the day yesterday with my Dad. Heck he lives with me, but yesterday was one of those great days. We spent the afternoon together working on fence so we could move our senior horses up closer to the house. He's 81, I'm 52. He is a power tool genius and I needed that to power bolt and reciprocal saw the fence. We've always worked well together on farm work. Dad's happy with the fence, I'm happy and the 3 old horses are happy with their knee deep grass. My pasture rotation works out better too this way.

Today I decided to assemble my new hammock. Of course couldn't get it done without Dad's help. He got a good laugh when I tried out my new hammock and fell out of it, twice.

It's weekends like this that are remarkable and memorable and stick with you forever. Happy Father's Day Dad!

The weather today was so lousy that we were prisoners indoors and the only thing interesting on the TV was the Belmont coverage. Now that the world is thoughly disappointed in the outcome, we move on. Big Brown was not in the mood to race in the sweltering heat in NY and Kent Desormeaux did the right thing pulling him up when he felt no horse under him. Brownie is too valuable to abuse into an off the board finish. That's the way the horseshoe bounces I guess. We'll have to wait and see what happens next with the horse.

On the political side I watched the fooforaw that was Hillary's concession speech. In typical Clinton controlling, dramatic fashion they kept everyone waiting. Then they made a grand entrance. Hillary took her deserved applause. Her speech was great for the first 10 or 15 minutes then it went on. And on. I started surfing channels. Checked back and she was still talking. Started surfing again, checked back, for fun this time, and she was still going. Somebody pull the batteries from that thing!

The Triple Crown?

Tomorrow by this time we'll know if we have a Triple Crown winner. Can Big Brown do it? It's been 30 years since we've had one. Big Brown is the real deal and the best horse IMHO since AP Indy who could have won it in the early 90's if not for a bruised foot the day before the Derby.

Brownie is push button and versatile which is what can win this race tomorrow. The only thing I see that can hinder him is the unknown factor of the 12 furlong distance. If Desormeaux can keep him cool on a hot day and have enough in the tank when he asks him it's a done deal. I don't think it will be Secretariat-sque, but I think he can get the job done. The sport badly needs a hero right now. His people aren't as cool as Big Red's, but more like the less likable Seattle Slew's connections which wasn't Slew's fault. He was spectacular. They aren't squeaky clean and do not give you that warm fuzzy feeling that was found in Secretariat's story and to a lesser degree, Affirmed's, but beggars can't be choosers. The big bay horse has the charisma of Secretariat despite his connections. Does he have the bottom to get there? Oh how I hope so.

The Last Best Primary

Montana, the Last Best Place and also the last primary of the election season. Obama will probably win here. He was here a couple of weeks ago in Bozeman and several thousand showed up in the huge MSU fieldhouse to see him and hear him say his patented 'change' speech. Bill showed up a few days later to about a thousand people in the lowly Shoroyer gym to show how Billary hasn't forgotten Montana also. Shows me who is going to win this primary.

I've been on this Earth only 52 years and every election cycle, especially when there's a Lame Duck in the White House, there's the candidates that say they are going to change the way things are done in DC if elected to the presidency. Every single bloomin' time they say that. Now that's really cool to the young voters. Wow, he's going to change everything. To that I say "p'shaw!" It's never happened in my lifetime. After the election reality sets in and those fine stump speakers find out how Congress and Washington work from the White House perspective. Get real! Not going to happen.