So Much to Write About....

Boo is doing much better and we've been able to decrease her pain medication.  I still feel bad for her.  All the other dogs and cats in my care are super, and tonight I start caring for Aiko and Yoshi, the two Shih Tzus who live next door to Rosie and Remy.  Lovey, Nedi, and Mocha are great - Nedi just finished nursing on my arm.  He and Lovey are outside, while Mocha is "stealing" food from their bowl (they steal food from hers, as well). And, I do hope that Coffeepot finds a place of his own sometime soon!  ... This Saturday, NBC will broadcast both the King's Bishop Stakes and the Travers Stakes, from 5 to 6 EDT.  Uncle Mo, the Derby favorite who did not run, is facing 7 opponents in the 7/8ths mile King's Bishop; this is his first race since March.  In the "Mid-Summer Derby," the Travers Stakes, 10 colts will vie for a $1 million purse, running 1 and 1/4 miles. Horses who ran in the Triple Crown races and are in the Travers are: Shackleford, Ruler On Ice, and Stay Thirsty.

Hopefully Hurricane Irene won't cause the closing of Saratoga for Saturday's races.  It is causing a mass exodus from North Carolina's Outer Banks, and those along the Delmarva Peninsula are also preparing for the worst.  Boats are being placed in dry dock as fast as possible; folks are loading up on gasoline, water, and food stuffs.  Some places, like in my story yesterday, are packing things to the up-stairs living areas in hopes of not losing them to rising waters.  People with livestock who live in low-lying areas are trailering their stock to other places, further inland and on higher ground.  (You know, I kind of miss hurricane season here in the mountains...)  And, even though it's crazy, I'd love to be on the island of Chincoteague during the storm...  I guess my 360 years of waterman's genes make a strong pull for the coast.   .... One of the Chincoteague ponies that live in Maryland near Ocean City has been removed from Assateague for being a nuisance and becoming dangerous.  A bay stallion, 18-years-old and named Fabio (he has a long face and mane), has been gelded and sent to Doris Day's Horse Rehab Center in Texas.  On the Maryland end of Assateague, one may camp on the island - and the ponies there tend to eat whatever the tourists and campers give them, and end up becoming beggars.  Fabio, after begging for several years, started threatening campers, both biting them and occasionally charging at them, with teeth bared.  The folks at the Horse Rehab Center say that Fabio is making excellent progress; as a matter of fact, he's doing much better than they expected.  He will probably be turned out with the rest of the horses, once he's been rehabbed, but he also might be adopted out.  They'll have to see how he does with training.

And, finally, a 19-year-old female from London, England is currently in the Boulder jail.  The legal drinking age here is 21.  The young lady went to a party and later admitted to police that she had consumed several drinks.  She then got in a Volvo sedan and started to drive.  She ran into at least three parked cars, leaving bits and pieces of the bumper, lights, fenders, and a front tire at the scene.  She continued to drive on three tires and the wheel mount.  Several people managed to stop her at a red light, and took her keys from her.  The police arrived soon after, following reports of the accidents and of a car moving down the road while producing sparks and fire in the wheel well.  The young lady smelled of alcohol, and could not answer questions well enough to even take a field sobriety test.  The car was towed away and she was booked for various offenses, including DUI, under-age alcohol consumption, reckless driving and leaving the scene of an accident (times 3).