Bits and Pieces

Just bits and pieces of odds and ends today...
  There was a round-up of the ponies Friday and Saturday on the Virginia end of Assateague.  They got their third doses of the new equine pythiosis ("swamp cancer") medication, in hopes that it proves to be a potent vaccination for all equines around the world. I haven't gotten a report regarding the northern herds, but it seems that we have lost a foal - Kimball's Rainbow Delight was spotted with a chestnut - possibly palomino - foal on May 19th.  Other than the original sighting and photo, there have been no others.  Rainy came in with her herd, but without a foal yesterday afternoon for the round-up.  Everyone else in the southern herds were in great shape.  DSC Photography was in "Facebook Jail" yesterday because they were apparently reported as "spammers" to FB, and they weren't been able to up-load new photos of the round-ups and the ponies in the pens, or on their way out yesterday.  They were back up and posting again at midnight.  (Thankfully!)

Distant (and only) photo of Kimball's Rainbow Delight and foal

(taken May 19)

  Now I need to grouse....   I just spent the afternoon looking at images placed on the Fine Art America website under two categories - one, just the word Chincoteague; and two, just the word Assateague.  Now, the words "Chincoteague ponies" are used pretty mush to describe any pony born on Assateague Island - ponies run wild in both states, Maryland and Virginia, on Assateague.  People also call the ponies born there "Assateague ponies."   Ponies born in Virginia are given vaccinations, have blood tests drawn, and are micro-chipped; and there is a specific registry for them - the Chincoteague Pony National Registry.  This is not done for the ponies in Maryland.  They receive no veterinary care, but are assigned an alpha-numeric ID number and are named by the highest bidder in on-line, and, occasionally, public bids. There is a difference between the ponies owned by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company in Virginia, and the ponies that roam free with no care and are over-seen by the National Park Service in Maryland.
  The people who post photos on the Fine Art America page apparently don't do their "homework."  And one of the photos was down-right frightening to me...  The photo was titled "I Am Wild" and it showed a young woman, sitting with her legs curled to one side, with her hip less than 6 inches away from the hind feet of a wild pony asleep on Assateague National Seashore in Maryland.  The girl is smiling prettily for the camera as she sits beside the hooves of a chestnut stallion named Corky.  What a complete and total idiot!!!  People are supposed to give the ponies a buffer zone of 50 to 120 feet.  She could have been kicked, trampled and/or bitten.  Then (I'm certain) it would have been the pony's fault, according to her, her friends and family.
   Other people assign their own personally-decided names on the ponies.  I was amazed to see, under the Assateague heading, a photo of Surfer's Riptide, dated 2012, where he was named "Slash the Pony" by the photographer.  There are multiple shots of Stevenson's Dakota Sky under the title of "Pony with the Copper Mane"...  Some ponies that have passed away in Maryland are listed with the names of Savannah and Squire, but none of the ponies there were named those names.  One of the ones that made my jaw drop was a hugely muscled palomino with a large white blaze, that a single photographer had posted as "Portrait" and "Big Red" (?) , and described the palomino is a wild Assateague Island pony.  That pony (or horse) is standing among a large growth of bamboo, which doesn't grow on Assateague, and I can definitely say that it never was a wild pony on Assateague.
   There were two other things that drew my ire...  Photos labeled as being taken on "Chincoteague Beach," and pictures and drawings of the Assateague Lighthouse that are also labeled as "Chincoteague."  First, there hasn't been a beach on Chincoteague since the early 1970s, when the south end of the island was developed.  And secondly, the Assateague Lighthouse is solidly built on Assateague Island, and always has been.  It is not on Chincoteague, but can be viewed from Chincoteague.
   Maybe people are confused because the Virginia end of Assateague is both the Assateague National Seashore and the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge.  The Assateague National Seashore is run by the National Park Service; the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge is run by the National Fish and Wildlife Service.  They are two intertwined entities.
   But Assateague and Chincoteague are not the same islands.  Assateague is the very long green and orange island at the top of the map below.  Chincoteague is the small tan blob close to Assateague, and the right side of the map.  North is to the left...

Thanks for letting me vent my spleen..... 

28 January 2018

Today is my Mom's birthday.  Were she still here, she'd be 97 years old.  She was the second child born to a man with dual citizenship (American and Swedish), who was a net mender and waterman, and the first born daughter of people who were generations long Chincoteaguers, with the exception of the Danish grandfather.  Mom was a born and raised Teaguer, but was always in love with the Old West of America.
    We always spoke on her birthday, wherever I was located... England, Colorado, Florida.  We were speaking on the telephone, and both of us were watching the launch of the space shuttle Challenger, when it exploded.  We had no words to convey our feelings of loss to each other....  Mom was always there for me.  She did worry a lot of my friends, because she wore bifocals, and, if she was near a person, she had a tendency to "look down her nose" at people, so she could see them clearly.  A lot of my friends thought that she was showing dislike, and I had to explain that she was just trying to see them clearly...
    We had great adventures together.  Dad had always said he was taking her to England to see the Crown jewels when he retired.  Well, Dad died before he could retire, so Mom and I went to look at the Crown jewels together.  We rented a car and drove through England, visiting Newmarket, the home of English horse racing.  We saw plays, went to Windsor Castle, went to the Royal Mews and saw the Gold Coach, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in book stores and shops.  We went to FanFare in Nashville, Tennessee, and Mom got to meet Loretta Lynn, while I got a kiss from Marty Robbins; and we went to the Grand Ole Opry and Opryland Park.   I also took her horse racing in Delaware, where she had a blast.  My sister Kathy took her to Alaska, and on several cruises.
   Unfortunately, a stroke, followed by Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, dulled her interest in outside things.  She stopped reading, but loved to watch old movies and television shows.  She never ceased in her love of Raymond Burr's portrayal of Perry Mason.  She would slip from the present to the past in a heartbeat, and it was, occasionally, difficult to follow her time periods... 
    She passed away in her sleep, during an afternoon nap, a few months before she would turn 81...  It was the same way that Dad went, peacefully, in sleep in mid-afternoon.  I hope I go that way, too.
   I love you, Mom!!!

Happy Mothers Day!

One of the interesting things about Mothers Day, for me is the history of the family.  My Mother was born and raised on Chincoteague Island, Virginia, with a few months, here and there over the years, in old New York City near the Fulton Fish Market.  Mom was the second-oldest, and when her Mother died, my Mom raised the two younger kids, so my sister and I were Mom's second set of kids to raise.  Several of the local Chincoteague men asked Mom to marry them, but Mom always said, "We've known each other since we were born.  I love you like a brother, but I can't marry you."  Then she fell in love with a deeply tanned man with reddish-black hair and green eyes from the Naval Air Station on the Mainland, while she was working in the PX.
   My Mother's Mother, Aleda, was wooed as a 15 year-old by a waterman who was a boarder at her grandparents' house across the lane.  I only know a few things about my grandmother - we have a postcard photo of her in a dress and holding a few flowers, and my cousin Aleda looks exactly like our Grandma Aleda...  Aleda died almost 20 years before my birth, due to cancer.  My Mom told several different versions to us girls - she told me that Aleda died from "cancer of the blood," which I thought meant leukemia; she told my sister that Aleda died from cervical cancer; and Mom told her sister, who told her daughters, that Aleda died of ovarian cancer...  I should order her death certificate and find out.   A week after her 16th birthday, Aleda "eloped" to Maryland with my grandfather, and they were married under the Marriage Oak, a huge tree just over the state line...   But we do know that Grandma Aleda had a temper.  Her father took contract jobs through various people and agencies - including the US Coast Guard, who were in charge of running and maintenance on both the Assateague Lighthouse and the Killock Shoal Lighthouse.  Great-grandfather paid my grandfather, his son-in-law and Aleda's husband, a small portion of cash to take care of the lighthouses in his stead.  Grandma Aleda and Cap'n Walt had four children, and scrambled pretty hard to make ends meet.  It was right after the Wall Street Crash in 1929, when Grandma Aleda went to ask her father about payment for the lighthouse care.  Great-grandpa wasn't at home, so Grandma started looking at his ledgers - and found out that her father was keeping three-quarters of what the US Coast Guard was paying for the lighthouse care, while only paying his son-in-law one quarter of the income.  Mom said it took almost a year before Grandma would speak to her father again - and he ended up paying Grandpa 90 percent of the contract money because Grandma said she'd turn him in to the government...   Wow...

Chincoteague Island Photos

In this aerial view, Assateague is to the right and center of the photo;

Chincoteague is in the middle-top, with white buildings on the edges

Downtown Chincoteague, Reed Park and the Misty statue

The world-famous Island Creamery - home-made ice cream shop

Assateague Lighthouse and Chincoteague ponies

The Assateague Lighthouse

Captain Barry's Back Bay Cruises and Sunset Cruise

Captain Dan's Guaranteed Pony Tour

The Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company station on Main Street -

ground was just broken for the new station on Deep Hole Road

A Mixed Bag

This will be my last post before returning from vacation, the second day of August, so I decided to present one of my usual mixed bag set of photos and thoughts....
   After a "drought" in foal deliveries since June 22, Witch Kraft dropped her filly Friday on Assateague.  She's a beautiful chestnut pinto and her sire is Wild Thing.
   And, for the first time since 1972, a Misty descendant was born on Beebe Ranch on Chincoteague.  Billy Beebe was proud to announce the birth of a filly to Nightmist's Little Angel.  The black pinto has been named Angel's Stormy Drizzle.
    Friday was the annual Tube to Work Day in Boulder Creek, in Boulder.  More than 500 people turned out to ride the rapids in inner tubes on the way to work this year....
    A promising young Thoroughbred stallion was killed by a lightning strike in his paddock on Thursday.  The storm "came out of nowhere" and none of the 8 weather broadcasts forecast any rain or thunder and lightning storms.
   Our local fire, the Cold Springs wildfire, is now 100% contained.  There are still smouldering areas, but no new fire outbreaks are expected.  The two campers who did not extinguish their small campfire caused over $3 million in damages, including the loss of 8 homes, 7 out buildings, several pets, and an untold number of wildlife.  The fire-fighting costs exceed $5 million.
   There have been many headlines stating that Tim Tebow will be speaking at the Republican National Convention, and that he will be campaigning for Donald Trump.  Tim Tebow was very shocked to learn this via the media.  Tim Tebow will not be appearing at the RNC in Cleveland.  Tim Tebow does not endorse Donald Trump's racism and bigotry.
   Beatrice, my room mate - apartment sharer - friend, will take care of my kits while I'm in Virginia.  I'll return to Boulder late on August 1 - but I have 13 glorious days on Chincoteague and Assateague.  I'm taking three boat cruises; I'll be climbing up the lighthouse; I'll see and record the Pony Auction; I'll see friends and family; I'll visit the beach, and walk the trails.  And I will relax.  See you next month!

Witch Kraft and her filly sired by Wild Thing - thanks to DSC Photography

Angel's Stormy Drizzle, a 6th generation Misty descendant

Billy Beebe with Clarence "Grandpa" Beebe's branding iron

Squirrel

Black Star and filly by Wild Thing  -  thanks to DSC Photography

This notice from Beached Paws Photography in Maryland

Tube to Work Day in Boulder, Colorado had more than 500 participants this year

Photos From the Eastern Shore of Virginia

Corn field and abandoned church

Typical view of a farm house

Oyster reef

The twisted chimney in the attic of the Barrier Island Center - it was originally the county's Poor House

Historic Kerr Place in Onancock

Winter on the Atlantic

The Timothy Hill House on Chincoteague - the oldest surviving dwelling, circa 1800

Assateague Island Lighthouse

A bald eagle in one of the many Wildlife Refuges

Vacation Photos

Oystercatcher  in the surf

The schooner Yorktown in the Chesapeake Bay

Riptide and mares on Assateague

Wallops Island

Ponies resting after the 2015 Pony Swim

Lighthouse and sandcastles on Assateague National Seashore

Saltwater cowboy Thurman Moore during the Dawn Beach Walk

Boulder and Chincoteague

'Tis a beautiful, sunny day in Colorado.  I slept well with Rosie last night, and she has been eating like a little piglet for me.  I mention that, because she frequently acts disdainful of the food her owners give her, but not food from me.  I can't figure that out.
   After I went back to Tamarack Court last night, Beatrice informed me that Nedi decided that she was safe to get some loving from...  He stropped her ankles and purred quite a bit for her while she was using my computer.  I guess that someone sitting at the keyboard is considered "safe."
   Have had a wonderful time talking with Lynn about Chincoteague and the ponies.  She wants to see Pony Penning next year.  I have already reserved the place I stayed at this summer for next year - I am hoping and praying that my friends Carolyn and Greg can make it to the island, as well as Rabbitt, a man Carolyn and I went to school with...  Then Lynn hopes to come, also.  Luckily the house sleeps 10, and if everyone can attend, there will be one couple and three singles...
   I was able to go out with Captain Barry for a Sea Exploration cruise, as well as an after-hours trip up the neck with him, his wife Aleda, Jimmy, and Jimmy's parents. (Jimmy works with Aleda at Right Up Your Alley, a food truck behind the Village Mall on Main Street.)  Captain Barry's trips leave from a mooring spot between The Jackspot and the Fairfield Inn & Suites - and they are delightful.  If the band is playing at the Jackspot, they break for a few seconds to wish Captain Barry a "Bon Voyage," and Barry blows his conch shell horn at them...
   The new visitor centers on Assateague are fantastic - I was very impressed by them.  I also fell in love with my cousin, Karen Quillen, all over again.  I looked up to Karen as a child, and desperately wanted to please her.  I found that I still do.  Karen was, and still is, "Miss Karen" to most of the children riding the school bus on Chincoteague Island. She is full of common sense, and speaks her mind.  She gave me gifts to share with the rest of the family when I left - and I have yet to spread them around.  I also got to talk with my cousin Maureen Beebe, and with her two daughters.  It was sheer heaven.
   Back here in Boulder, I was a little nasty yesterday.  Each and every apartment in the new complex we moved into has one, and only one, assigned parking space.  Beatrice and I have number 50.  In my first three weeks here, I left four notes on four different windshields noting that 50 was my space,  I pulled in yesterday evening, and found an SUV from Oregon parked in my spot.  I sat and tooted my horn until several neighbors looked out over their balconies.  The visitor was staying (and doing a party hardy) at the apartment above mine.  He took his time in moving the car...  but I was feeling a bit cranky and wanted MY spot.  Think I was out of line?  The designated spot for that apartment was empty - so I didn't, and don't, feel badly about it.
 

Recent Photos From Assateague and Chincoteague Islands

Cloudy morning, Assateague

Assateague Channel jellyfish

Crab on Assateague

Assateague Oystercatcher

Chincoteague sunrise

Moon set over Tom's Cove, Assateague

Sunset, Curtis Merritt Harbor Marina, Chincoteague

Pony Photos

Connemara

Shetland

Chincoteague

Shetland

Shetland

Icelandic

Shetland

Odds And Ends

Gee, it's 46 degrees both here in Boulder, and in Newton, Illinois.  Mid- to upper 70s in Gainesville, Vero Beach, and Chincoteague.  But, for once, Chincoteague has the highest humidity at 85%, with all the other sites in the 70 percentile.    A lot of Oregon State Beaver fans cheered when they arrived in the Millennium Harvest House parking lot last night....  and they seem to be here in force, as the grocery store was full of them at 7 this morning.  I was wearing brown jeans and a green sweater this morning, when a 4-year-old Beaver fan asked me whose colors I was wearing...  I told him they were my own, and asked who he cheered for.  He proudly stuck his chest out and showed me the Oregon State logo on his sweatshirt, so I said, "Go, Beavers!"  and was surprised when he squealed with delight....
   There was a nice, quiet young bull moose visiting the neighborhood adjoining Chautauqua Park yesterday; unfortunately, he caused several traffic jams because folks wanted to take photos of him.  The Wildlife folks tranquilized him and transported him back up into the National Forest, near Nederland.  I spoke with one of the male teachers at the Waldorf school yesterday, and asked if he knew that the mountain lion was being sighted at both dusk and dawn along his favorite walk by the creek - where he takes his class every day.  We walked over and I showed him the paw prints, which freaked him out.
    I have the SEC Network on my television right now, and am enjoying listening to Tim Tebow talk about the different teams and players.  The other commentators haven't asked him to do a Steve Spurrier impression today - yet.  Both kits have been out for a couple of hours, but both are now curled up on my bed, snuggled in the afghan.
   I have been looking at the "vacation cottages" available for Pony Penning, since we're doing the family reunion that week.  It's amazing to me to see so many homes for rent on a weekly basis.  How many bedrooms and bathrooms do we want?  Do we want want start renting, for the week, on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday? Do we want to supply our own bed linens and bath towels, or rent them?  Do we want to be on the waterfront?  Do we want a pool available?  So many variables.  I'd have no problem deciding on something if it were just me going -   but there are 3 couples plus me, and a small child.....  Will being on the water compromise Evie's safety?  Do we want to stay near the beach, near the carnival grounds, near down town, or away from it all?  I've sent out a questionnaire to all the adults, and Kathy and I will look at places available in 10 days, and make the decision.

Fall Round-Up Reminder, Oyster Festival

A chilly morning here - 35 degrees and 87% humidity...  Hoping the sun will peep out for today's walk with Rosie!  Again, I thoroughly enjoyed How To Get Away With Murder last night - there have been some very interesting twists and turns, and unexpected court room revelations.  Very good, indeed!  The kits went out this morning, but came back inside quickly.  Lovey is on the foot of the bed, burbling at me, while Nedi is on top of the cat tree.
   Tomorrow there will be a Wellness Walk at the Wildlife Loop on Assateague Island (Virginia) at 10 in the morning.  It's free, so go out, enjoy the walk with friends, and enjoy the beautiful scenery and wildlife.  If I were within a 4-hour drive, I'd be there myself!   Nest weekend, on Chincoteague and Assateague - the Fall Pony Round-Up will take place on October 10 and 11...  If the crowds at Pony Penning were too much for you to bear, go now and see the Saltwater Cowboys and the ponies.  And the Annual Oyster Festival will take place on Saturday, October 11, at Tom's Cove Park - you must have purchased a ticket to participate...
   I'll be watching football here in Colorado both weekends...  CU has a home game, with the kick-off at 2 tomorrow afternoon, so I'll go grocery shopping early and then stay at home to avoid the madness.  AT least I have a full day of football to watch - the Gators play at Tennessee on the SEC Network, CU faces the Oregon State Beavers  on the PAC Network, and then the Gamecocks are at Kentucky on the SEC Network.  Sunday, I'll watch the Cardinals visit our stadium in Denver on Fox.  I'm hoping for some good, well-played games!
   Sister Kathy and I have arranged a "date" to look at the places (homes) available for rent for the 2015 Pony Penning.  She has decided that she'd like some in-put about where we stay, so I'll acquiesce.  Since there will be 7 adults and 2-year-old Evie, I want to have three toilets available - that's my only standard (because I never know when my tummy will decide to go crazy and demand the use of a toilet immediately).

Fall Pony Round-Up, Horse Crazy

The Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company has announced that the Fall Round-Up will take place on October 10 and 11 (Friday and Saturday) this year.  Foals who were too young to separate from their dams will be available for pick-up by their owners, and a few foals born after Pony Penning may be up for sale...  If your passion is ponies, be there!
   In horse racing news,  Will Take Charge, the 3-year-old male champion of 2013, is retiring to stand at stud at Three Chimneys Farm in Kentucky.  Game On Dude, the 7-year-old gelding, who won an unprecedented three "Big Caps," is also being retired from the track.  Right now, the older champion will stay in Bob Baffert's barn, while his owner's decide where to send him for retirement.   And California Chrome, who won the first two legs of this year's Triple Crown, returned in the Pennsylvania Derby - his first start since the Belmont Stakes.  He ran in third place, but faded in the stretch and finished sixth in the field, behind the winner Bayern.
  "Horse crazy."  I grew up with that term, or label.  Luckily, my Mom had been "horse crazy" when she was a youngster, too.  But I've never grown out of, as some people do; as Mom did.  Mom grew up on Chincoteague and Assateague Islands - her family has been there since the 1640s.  Until she became the female head of the family, when her Mother died, Mom walked from Peterson Street down to the Beebe farm each Sunday - to spend the afternoon with her cousin, and friend, Alma, and in hopes of being able to ride one of the Beebe ponies with the Beebe kids. She remembered with great happiness that they were able to ride almost every Sunday afternoon, after they had done a few chores.  She was really intrigued with Zane Grey cowboy books, and loved to see western movies.  She loved every breed of horse she ever saw, and delighted in going to horse shows, until she had to stay in a nursing home.  She particularly loved to watch Saddlebreds "Rack On!,"  Hackneys in harness, and Morgans - but she loved all horses.
  I grew up in her footsteps - riding every chance I could and loving just spending time watching horses in pasture, under saddle, or running wild on Assateague. But what really constitutes being horse crazy?  Supposedly, if other (much earlier) family tree researchers can be trusted, Mom's family traces back to a Dane who was the Master of Horse for William the Conqueror, of Normandy and England.  I have no idea if it's true, but it's nice to contemplate...  I cannot accept the old belief that horses are a replacement for having a male's penis.  Contemplating the grace, lines, and color of a specific equine animal, for some reason just doesn't equal a need to be male and dominant, in my mind.  I would spend the majority of my time with horses, dogs and cats, rather than humans, if possible.  I prefer these critters' honesty to the sniping and one-upmanship of humanity.  My husband always said that I was more feline than human....  Maybe he was right - or, at least, I'm more connected to other types of animals.
 

Pony Penning 2014 (& Me and the Kits)

I look like a cockatoo today - it's only 63 degrees, but the humidity is 100% here in Boulder, which is an extreme rarity. So I have my hair gathered into a ponytail, then twisted and turned up on the back of my head  and clipped in place.  My hair is finally long enough that I have a small up-standing brush at the crown of my head.  It's quite funny looking!  My kits have been behaving well - they leave Rodney's critters alone (Rodney and I share the north wall of my apartment), which makes both of us humans happy.   At various times during the day, one can see a Belgium Giant rabbit playing on his patio, or ducklings, or a wide variety of birds on perches.  My kits watch all of Rodney's pets, but they don't touch.  Of course, in the last two days, the two of them have captured and brought five English sparrows inside the apartment and then turned them loose - so I've been chasing small, frightened birds, catching them. checking them for injuries, and then releasing them. I hope the kits slow down and the birds are faster on the wing!
  Two weeks from today, the Saltwater Cowboys of Chincoteague will begin their seven days of work for Pony Penning.  The Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company actually "works" - looking after the ponies - every single day of the year. There are about 15 members of the nuclear Pony Committee, whose main task is caring for the ponies' welfare - but just about any resident can get temporarily wrangled into helping out in a pinch.  Since the ponies live on Assateague Island, which is owned by the U S government, and is run by three governmental agencies (the National Park Service, the U S Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Department of Natural Resources), the CVFC has a strict contract with the government regarding the care and treatment of the ponies. Each pony receives every vaccination a normal riding horse gets each year - rabies, tetanus, vaccines against influenza - and they have their blood collected and tested each and every year. A veterinarian is on call for the entire herd collection 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - and Charlie Cameron, DVM, is one of the best.  The ponies are actually herded together three times a year, including the Pony Penning round-up.  General health and hooves are checked, and needed shots are given.  And 5 of the Pony Committee members go over to Assateague every day to look over each pony.
  Two weeks from today, the Saltwater Cowboys will assemble on Assateague Island, starting off at the northern end of the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, along the fence-line that separates Maryland from Virginia. They will round-up all the ponies of the northern herds and place them in the north holding pen.  Sunday, they will round-up the ponies on the south end of the island and take them to the south holding  pen near Tom's Cove.  Monday, at sunrise, the northern herds will be walked down the beach from the north to the south holding pen.  As the two groups, and ten-plus herds combine, there will be some fireworks, as stallions challenge each other for space and protect their mares and foals.  Tuesday is pretty much a rest day for the cowboys - but mares and foals are being matched, as well as which mare is in which stallion's herd.  On Wednesday, the ponies will be walked down the paved road on Assateague to Black Duck Drain, where they will turn off and ford a creek, to approach Old Dominion Point.  At slack tide, the US Coast Guard will fire a flare, and the cowboys will urge the ponies into the Assateague Channel to begin the one-eighth mile swim to Chincoteague.  The cowboys and their horses are transported via a barge, following the ponies. After rest and visual health check, the ponies are herded down Pony Swim Lane, around Beebe Road and then north on Main Street to the Carnival Grounds.  On Thursday, the foals and a few yearlings are auctioned, with all proceeds benefiting the CVFC and the EMT units.  Friday, the adult ponies and unsold youngsters make the return swim back to Assateague, again at slack tide.
   The veterinarian and the firemen check each and every pony - those considered too weak, too old, too young, or too pregnant, do not participate in the swim.  They are loaded onto a trailer and taken in style to the holding pens at the Carnival Grounds, until their friends and relatives join them after the swim on Wednesday.  The other thing that the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company works hard at is the annual Carnival.  The Carnival is in it's 89th year in 2014 - Pony Penning has been occurring for more than a hundred years prior to the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company taking over the running of the event.  That happened when there were two huge fires, one year and the next, that burned down almost every structure on the island.  The Fire Company was formed, and the proceeds of the Carnival and the pony sales have gone directly for fire-fighting equipment and training ever since.
  Pony Penning on Chincoteague and Assateague is definitely a unique experience.

Fireworks and a Sign

4 July Fireworks at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado

5 July Fireworks at the Chincoteague Carnival Grounds, Virginia

3 July lights and fireworks at the Denver, Colorado Civic Center

Sign at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on Assateague Island, Virginia

Lightning show at NASA launch pad on Wallop's Island, Virginia