I'll Miss You, Peter Breck

While growing up in Gainesville (which was before cable and satellite TV) we felt we were lucky to have the University of Florida's PBS station, the CBS and NBC stations from Jacksonville.  Of course, this also meant that I never saw any ABC TV series while I was young.  Being a horse-crazy kid, I watched every Western show that appeared on TV.  I never got to see The Big Valley during it's first run; we got the TV Guide, and I knew about the series, but I never got to actually see it as a child.  Since then, I'm sure I've seen every episode at least three times from beginning to end.  Lee Majors was added to the cast to get the young female viewers interested - but my favorite actor in The Big Valley has always been Peter Breck, who played Nick Barkley.  Nick was hot-headed, as I was (and still, occasionally, am).  But he always managed to redeem himself.  His character was much more involved with (or in tune with)  the ranch, the animals and the crops.  I always loved Peter Breck's portrayal of Nick Barkley.  Time is marching on, and yesterday, Peter Breck passed away at the age of 82.  After he stopped appearing in TV and films, he retired to Vancouver, British Columbia, acted in the local theatre, and had his own acting school.  According to his wife, in the last year or so, he suffered from dementia.  Peter Breck, you were one of my favorite actors....  You will be mourned and greatly missed.
   It's all of 9 degrees outside, and snow started falling while I was on my way home last night.  We've gotten two to three inches of light, powdery stuff so far, and it's continuing to fall.  I'll be heading out around 11 this morning to stay with Oly, Annie and Bentley until this evening.  The kits ran out this morning, and feeling the cold and seeing the snow, ran right back in.  Lovey is watching Rawhide, while Nedi is looking outside.  ....  There are all sorts of things going on...  Black Caviar won her 18th straight race in Australia, and this one was her 8th Grade 1.  Seems that her people are now planning on running her at Royal Ascot for her out-of-Australia debut.  ...  Union Rags, the colt trained by Michael Matz, is the early 3-to-5 betting favorite in the Kentucky Derby Future Wagering pool.  ...  And in Ocala, Florida, an explosion in the hyperbaric oxygen chamber at the Kentucky Equine Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Center has reportedly resulted in the death of one person and a horse and left another person severely injured.  According to the Ocala Star-Banner, 28-year-old Erica Marshall died and Sorcha Moneley, 33, was injured during the Feb. 10 accident.  According to the Star-Banner, fire rescue officials said the horse was inside the chamber, which is approximately 10-feet by 12-feet wide in diameter, when the horse acted up and started kicking. Officials said the workers went to turn the chamber off when the explosion occurred, sending debris over an area covering at least 1,200 square feet.   Fire rescue said they got the call at 9:21 a.m.
  Located on the premises of the former Farnsworth Farms, KESMARC offers services for all equine disciplines, including a swimming pool, eurocisers, waterciser, aqua treadmill, indoor Polytrack, and housing for horses.