89th Annual Pony Swim, Loss of Boo

The cold front has finally reached Boulder - expecting a high of 72 today, instead of 92 to 95 degrees.  We had rain and hail yesterday afternoon, and again, last night, and some drizzle this morning.  I turned the fans off in the apartment yesterday afternoon, before heading back to Maggie's, and I 'll probably turn them back on tomorrow morning.  But we're supposed to be in the 90s on Friday and through the weekend, so I know this is a one-day cool down.
   Poor Rosie.  We walked over to Boo's yard yesterday, and after she ran for her initial bone throw, Rosie went over to the sliding glass door on the patio, and pawed at it, trying to get Boo's attention.  She went to the door four separate times, and then would come back to me and put her head in my lap and heave a big sigh...  I know that Boo is buried in the garden - but I wonder what Rosie sensed?  After we returned to her home, Rosie took her medicine and then laid down on the carpet in the dining area; usually, she goes to her Mom, who's working in her office.  Nancy said she came downstairs to see where Rosie was, and that Rosie just kept heaving these huge sighs and looking terribly sad...  I feel for her loss of companionship; and, mine, also.
  Mucho Macho Man has been retired from racing, and will stand at stud at Adena Springs Farm. Surprisingly, Australia champion Black Caviar's half-sister, Belle Couture has also been retired.

   Two weeks from today, the 89th Annual Pony Swim will take place at slack tide in the Assateague Channel.  Mares, stallions, and foals will swim the one-eighth mile water trail between Assateague Island and Chincoteague Island.  Their swim will be supervised by the US Coast Guard, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the always vigilant Saltwater Cowboys, and the attending veterinarian, Dr. Charlie Cameron.  The viewers of the swim generally number about 40,000, all eagerly awaiting slack tide and the Coast Guard's red smoke flare.
  "Eighty-ninth?," you ask?  Well, this is the 89th year that the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company has sponsored the Pony Swim.  The Pony Penning and sale has been occurring on Assateague and Chincoteague since the 1700s, actually.  Sometimes every year, sometimes every two years.  But the mostly wooden-built town of Chincoteague  was almost totally wiped out by fire in two consecutive years.  The sale of the ponies and the carnival, held at the same time, became the money-raisers for the island's single fire department... and so it remains today.