The Belmont Stakes and Other Items

We knew there would be no Triple Crown Champion when Cloud Computing won the Preakness Stakes.  I was surprised that neither he, nor the Kentucky Derby winner, Always Dreaming, were in the Belmont.  The only horse to run in all three Triple Crown races this year was Lookin At Lee - who finished second in the Derby and fourth in the Preakness.
   Twelve were entered in the 149th Belmont; Epicharis could not pass the veterinarian exam in the morning, and was scratched, so eleven horses went to the starting gate.  The race is/was 1 1/2 miles on the main dirt track; the purse was $1.5 million, with $800,000 going to the winner.   Meantime led the way out of the starting gate and at the first turn, Hollywood Handsome was caught charging up into traffic, clipped heels, and almost lost his rider.  Irish War Cry took over the lead in the back stretch, and looked to be the winner, but Tapwrit came charging up, stayed stride for stride, then passed the chestnut, and won by two lengths in 2 minutes 30.02 seconds. Patch was third; Gormley fourth.  Lookin At Lee finished seventh. Hollywood Handsome walked off the track, but had surgical staples applied to a laceration behind his left knee.
   If you made a $2 bet to win on Tapwrit, you received $12.60; a $2 place on Irish War Cry paid $4.70; and a $2 show bet paid $6.50 for Patch.  A $2 perfecta bet paid $45.20; a $2 trifecta paid $624.00; and a $2 superfecta paid $4,486.00.
    Tapwrit won by two lengths over Irish War Cry, who was 5 3/4 lengths in front of Patch, who was 4 1/4 lengths in front of Gormley.  This is the full order of finish:   1 - Tapwrit; 2 - Irish War Cry; 3 - Patch; 4 - Gormley; 5 - Senior Investment; 6 - Twisted Tom; 7 - Lookin At Lee; 8 - Meantime; 9 - J Boys Echo; 10 - Multiplier.  Hollywood Handsome did not finish; Epicharis did not start.

  I apologize for having gotten so lax in keeping this blog up to date.  I find myself fascinated by the monkeyshines occurring in the 45th administration, and I keep spending more time in front of the television, instead of the keyboard and monitor.  My television is in another room, just so I cannot stare at it and try to type and research...  Thursday I watched the testimony of James Comey in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee; Friday, I celebrated my birthday by driving over Trail Ridge Road, through Rocky Mountain National Park (where we saw elk, elk, more elk, moose, and a large variety of birds). Yesterday I tried to catch up on household things, and watch the Belmont.
  Today, I'm taking care of three houses full of pets, whose owners are on vacation...  I have pet duties through the 29th of June, followed by a few days off (if nothing comes up).
  And, of course, I'm also trying to keep up with all the new foals on Assateague Island - the ones belonging to the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company.  As of last night, there had been 54 births (and 2 deaths)... including a palomino pinto baby born on my birthday to Marsh Mallow.

Odds and Ends

In looking back at the numbers involved in American Pharoah's win in the Belmont Stakes, someone noted, with surprise, that Pharoah ran the last quarter-mile (or 2 furlongs) faster than Secretariat did back in 1973.  That is impressive!  Also, American Pharoah will be on the cover of Sports Illustrated and Vogue in the near future.
   I had a fantastic time on Tuesday, 9 June.  It was my 59th birthday, and after spending several hours with Lovey and Nedi, and then an hour with Rosie, I spent 10 hours with my sister Kathy.  We had a light lunch, sat and talked, laughed, cried, looked at photos, and made plans for our trip to Chincoteague in July.  Then we picked up Jim (her husband), and had supper at the China Gourmet.  It was an excellent day!
   I'm currently house-sitting two cats, Cyrano and Pounce.  Pounce sings to me all morning and afternoon, wanting to go out.  Cyrano has started letting me sleep one night, and then waking me up every 90 minutes the next.  How does he wake me up?  He kneads my face, with his claws extended.  I have to admit I wake up quickly - and all he wants is to have his head and chin scratched for about a minute.  I might have to start closing the bedroom door.
   I have a storage unit, so I can start moving my belongings there and begin the scrubbing of my apartment.  I've been here for 9 years, plus, and still have the window curtains and shower curtain that "came" with the rental.  The only problem is the buckling ceiling and wall in the bathroom - I've commented on it, and complained about it, and asked for repairs for the past 14 months.  Now there is what I assume is mud (and hope is not sewage) oozing up through the edges of the tiles on the closet floor and the joiners cracks in the bathroom floor linoleum.  Maintenance keeps telling me that it's overflow from the bath tub above me, and they can't fix it...  I don't think anyone else will rent this place with the holes dripping water, sagging plaster, and mold growing above the shower head - on both the ceiling and the wall....
   I've been very worried about Lucy Lou Rox, one of the dogs I care for.  She's fourteen, a Portuguese Water dog, and she stopped putting any weight on one hind leg a couple of months ago.  The owner's regular vet just shrugged and said sciatica was the problem.  I recommended she have Dr Pete Rogers stop by.  He found a growth in her foot, which turned out to be a squamous type of cancer.  Lucy had surgery at Pet Menders (my cats' vet in Boulder) last Friday and is almost completely recovered.  She's bearing weight on that leg and foot, eating well, and is now interested in chasing squirrels again.  One toe and a small part of her foot pad was removed.  Voila!  A new dog!  So happy Doctor Pete found that.
 

Rain Yesterday, Sunny Today

It poured yesterday afternoon in north Boulder - more than a half-inch in 30 minutes, and over an inch for the day.  I have to admit that yesterday's downpour took me back to memories of a couple of hurricanes in Florida during the 1960s...  Rosie and Boo sandwiched me, and I spent most of the evening with a hand on each dog.  I admit I turned on the gas fireplace last night, too - It was 38 degrees outside when I got up this morning.  And, with that cold coming down from the northwest, they even had to stop the "Ride the Rockies" bicycle race  because of a blizzard at Berthoud Pass yesterday afternoon...

Blizzard at Berthoud Pass yesterday afternoon  (8 June 2014)

I understand that co-owner and -breeder of California Chrome, Steve Coburn, is not backing away from his remarks on Saturday evening.  He feels that the Triple Crown championship was stolen from his horse because horses that did not run in all three Classic races finished ahead of him.  It has never been required that any of the horses entered to run in the Preakness or Belmont must also run in the Kentucky Derby - it's always been a wide-open contest at all three races in the past.  I'm sorry that Mr Coburn is so upset over his colt's loss - but all the previous Triple Crown champions have faced the same mixed bag of contenders in both the Preakness and the Belmont.  His colt came up short in the Belmont - the Triple Crown winners did not.

Today is my 58th birthday - I decided it was my "Regression Day" instead.  While my body continues to age, and to get rounder, my mind still thinks that I'm eleven or twelve - so:

Happy Regression Day, every one!!!!

Zephraim Cenedi is Four Today

Today is Nedi's fourth birthday - he has grown from a handful of black fluff that I adopted at the age of 9 weeks, to a big ball of black fluff with a penchant for chasing his sister.  Zephraim Cenedi looks like a very large cat, thanks to a very full and fluffy coat; actually, he weighs about 6 pounds - half the amount of his "sister", Lovey.  Small-boned, extremely active, and having a personality that enjoys interacting with other cats, birds, and squirrels, Nedi is a bundle of joy.  And, like any brother, he knows precisely what to do to get his sister to lose her cool - and it's kind of fun to watch him plot things to do to his sister.  He doesn't stare at her, but he gives these measuring glances, and then looks away to plan his strategy.  I bought a special dinner treat for them both, and will do the same when Lovey's birthday comes back around...

Nedi, with his favorite catnip toy, sitting on the box he is currently deconstructing (with his teeth)

  It was so marvelous to sleep in my own bed last night.  I'll have to watch The Blacklist on line this week, as I collapsed in bed last night when Kathy brought me home, after answering my collected e-mail.  We had wind off and on throughout the weekend and yesterday. Today the sun is shining in a bright blue sky and it's all of 35 degrees out.  I've taken care of my kids and fed the squirrels walnuts for breakfast.  I think that I will just laze around today - read and do some genealogy research, but not push anything.  Spending 24 hours at home, without needing to go out and do something, seems a wonderful thing, these days.
 

Dad's Birthday

Today would be my father's 91st birthday, had he not passed away at the age of 57 on 10 September 1980.  When my mother called 911, the person on the other end was a lady my age, who grew up across the street and five doors down.  She soothed my Mom as best she could and immediately sent out EMTs. God bless Elaine Clevenger Sturm for being on the other end of the phone.  She was a fun childhood companion, and is still a good friend.  As a young man, Dad would have been described as having medium height (5 feet 10 inches) and being of slim build.  He had dark brown hair with red highlights from the sun, a black handle-bar moustache, green eyes, and freckles.  After 1968, he grew a full beard, and most people remember him with an almost totally white beard.  I now admit that I'm the reason he grew that beard - because he had all of his teeth pulled at once, and the US Navy gave him a set of very fake-looking choppers (all the teeth looked square).  I told him that those teeth looked awful one time.  They were wrapped up in a handkerchief and placed in his socks drawer, where they sat until Dad died.  Looking back, I feel that I did Dad an injustice at that time - but, he used his gums, and, he could eat anything except roasted nuts, in a short time.  But his mouth stayed dry, so he was constantly chewing gum - Wrigley's Spearmint was his favorite.
  Dad was born in Hooker, Oklahoma, and was raised in Hooker, and then Troy, Kansas.  He was third of four surviving children, with Elmer and Hazel being older, and Joe being youngest.  His mother, Grandma Grace, was a juvenile diabetic, diagnosed before insulin was discovered.  She came from a long line of farmers and school teachers.  Grandpa E E was a farmer, and his family had been farmers and school teachers for generations, also.  Dad was raised with a highly developed work ethic, a love of reading and knowledge and with a deep appreciation of other peoples' beliefs and cultures.  He did his best to instill those values in Kathy (my only sibling) and me.  He left Kansas at the age of 17 to join the US Navy - he wanted to be a fighter pilot.  But it turned out that Dad had absolutely no depth perception, and was scrubbed out of the program.  Since he loved flying so much, he became a mechanic for planes, and learned the ropes at the Ford Engine Company, before heading out to sea on aircraft carriers.  He studied radar and radar installation for older aircraft.  He worked as head mechanic for the Navy's Blue Angels Flight team for 3 years.  Dad retired from the Navy when I was 5 years old.  He said he never wanted to have to shovel snow again, and, so, we moved to Florida; but us kids spent summers on Chincoteague Island with our Mom's extended family.
  Dad and Mom saved for a wonderful retirement  - he was going to show her the world and his favorite places.  Mom had only been "out of the country" once, when we, the family, spent an afternoon in Matamoros, Mexico in 1960.  Dad was going to show her Puerto Rico, where he hoped to retire; all his ports of call in the Mediterranean while with the Navy, especially in Greece; and the Crown Jewels of England, which, he told Mom, could not compare with the lustrous beauty of her eyes....  Dad was the Assistant Superintendent of Alachua County Roads when he died.  He and Mom didn't get to travel during retirement.  But I took Mom to England for a vacation, and I showed her the Crown Jewels - just for Dad.
  Thank you for everything, Daddy.

Horse Riding in Rocky Mountain National Park

It was 95 here in Boulder yesterday, and 97 in Denver, tying the day's high temperature records.They think we'll reach between 95 and 100 today.  I know it was 72 degrees at 6:45 this morning - and I never turned my fan off last night.  Looks like I'll be turning on the second fan today...  Considering the heat, Lovey and Nedi have been very snuggly, which is fine with me - when they get hot, they leave, or just move over a bit.  With the heat, Rosie and I have been starting our walks before 8 a.m., so I'm finished doing my daily work and am back at home by 9:30 - seems odd, right now.  But, in another week, it'll seem totally normal again.
  I had a wonderful time with my sister on Sunday.  First we drove up to Estes Park and wandered through a Hand Made arts and crafts fair, and made a couple of purchases, while admiring a lot of things.  Then we snagged a quick lunch at McDonald's, where I introduced Kathy to the mango-pineapple smoothie, which she really liked.  Driving in to Rocky Mountain National Park, we found that she qualified to buy her Life Time Park Pass for $10 - as opposed to paying $20 each time.  She'll never have to pay to enter a national park again; now, that's grand!  And we drove on up to Moraine Park and Hi Country Stables...
  Signing in there, we found that while 13 folks were there for the 2 hour ride, only Kathy and I were signed up for the 4-hour ride.  Our guide/wrangler was a girl from Blacksburg, Virginia, who is a junior at Virginia Tech, and is studying Equine Science (she'll be a vet).  Kelly, the guide, was riding Smokey, a black quarter horse.  Kathy and I were riding brother and sister horses - both were half-Belgian (the draft horse).  Kathy got Pinkerton (aka Pinkey), the pinto gelding, while I got Pal, the palomino mare.  We rode for over 4 hours, and only ran into four groups of hikers (all going in the opposite direction) - so it was just the countryside, the wildlife, the three of us Virginia girls and three horses.  It was sheer bliss - no phones, no radio, no music, no vehicular traffic - just the sound of horse shoe on occasional rock, birds, water flowing in the creeks we crossed, and the breeze in the trees.  I would love to spend every day of the rest of my life like that!
  Upon returning to Boulder, Kathy, Jim, Bea and I had supper at Turley's and laughed ourselves silly - or, rather. sillier than we already were!  We had a great meal, and enjoyed wonderful companionship.
  The only thing that "went wrong" was that Kathy lost her glasses.  She thought she'd had them on during the first quarter of the ride, and that they'd come off their neck strap while we were riding quite a ways out.  When we returned to the stables, I heard a crunch under my boot, and looked down to see I was standing on Kathy's eyes...  Don't know if I broke them, or just popped the lens out of the frame - a horse might already have walked over them - it was right where everyone mounts and dismounts...  But she had an appointment to get her eyes tested this Wednesday, and she had a spare pair, so it wasn't a truly awful thing.
More about the ride later this week...
**********
The New England Patriots have signed Tim Tebow on as their third-string quarterback.  It's a two year contract, with the payment unspecified.  Josh McDaniel, who drafted Tebow as the Broncos' head coach, is now the Offensive Coordinator at the Patriots.  Tim showed up for mini-camp today.

Beaver Mountain, Here I Come!

I arrived as a separate entity in this world at about 3 in the morning, 57 years ago.  My parents were the only witnesses to my birth, as I decided to make my arrival before we reached the hospital.  I came into the world in the backseat of a 1949 Plymouth Deluxe Sedan, known in the family as "The Grey Ghost."  I sold her- - the car - in 1982 to a farmer who completely refurbished her.  She had been grey for 33 years; she's now a gleaming midnight navy blue - and she's still on the road.
  Today, my sister and I are going to drive up to Estes Park, and spend the morning looking in shops and art galleries. After a light lunch, we'll head into Rocky Mountain National Park, and check in at the Moraine Stables.   From there, we'll be on horses, riding to the summit of Beaver Mountain, and returning.  I'm taking my camera and hope to get lots of photos.  If Kathy and I can still walk, and are feeling half-way decent, we'll have dinner with Jim and the kids in Boulder.  If we're not feeling OK, we'll both be at home and in bed after a hot shower.  I think I can handle it - but we'll have to see.
  Have a wonderful Sunday!

Sarah's Birthday

Yesterday was the birthday of my niece, Sarah Snow.  Her partner, Michael, was away in Las Vegas for a soccer tournament, and nephew Mike's wife, Erin, stayed home with a nasty sore throat.  So Kathy and Jim, Mike and I headed off for Denver at 12:30 yesterday - we met Sarah at her work place, the Denver Botanic Gardens, and had a "quick" 2 and a half hour tour.  The York Street Garden, where Sarah works, is a 100-acre paradise with plants and trees from all over the world - there are several greenhouses to visit for both tropical and desert-type plants, as well as all the outside areas, including water features and quite a few sculptures.  It was gorgeous.  I took a lot of photos, and when I down-loaded them, realized I only knew the names of about half of the specimens...  but that's normal, isn't it?  After the Garden, we went to the IMAX theater and watched The Flight of the Butterflies, a 3-D documentary recording the efforts of a husband and wife team to discover, and follow, the winter migration of the Monarch butterfly.  It was a superb film.  
     After the film, we headed back into downtown Denver and had a dinner party at Steuben's The Cave - a comfort food restaurant and bar.  I had never before seen the meal called "Chicken & Waffles" on a menu, and I ordered it.  The result was half of a fried chicken served on top of a two-inch-thick slightly sweet, golden brown waffle; with a pat of butter, and servings of red-eye gravy, warmed maple syrup, and a vinegary au-jus dip.  It was delicious.  Mike and Sarah also ordered the Chicken and Waffles; Jim had Chicken Marsala, and Kathy had Trout Amandine.  I was the only one who had to ask for a doggy-bag.  We all handed Sarah our gifts, hugged, kissed, and returned home.  I had a splitting headache, took migraine medicine and went straight to bed, as soon as I checked on Cloudy and Shady.  (And Shady crawled into bed with me this morning, set up his sleep station on my shoulder, and promptly started to snore.)
     It's a grey day today.  It rained overnight, and has sprinkled off and on this morning.  Lovey and Nedi have covered me with their scent, and at this time, I should smell only like them.  They are out in the back yard, and come inside only when the rain becomes a little too heavy for them to stand.  -  I've used 6 towels to dry them off so far...
    Finally, I need to wish a very Happy Birthday to Michele in Wisconsin.  I hope she has a fantabulous day!

My Father, Critters, and Wind

Today would be my Father's 90th birthday. - I miss you, Dad. You taught me to track, hunt and fish; how to tie knots; the right way to put a tent up and the best way to build a campfire. You encouraged me to learn, to look into history, and to dream about tomorrow. You taught me about sportsmanship, and how to project my voice at sports events. (My friends from school still remember you best yelling, "Go, Rams, go!") You taught me to stand my ground for what is right, and you taught me that prejudice is stupid and a waste of time. Thank you, Daddy, for everything you gave me.

   It's windy again today - the wind kept waking me up during the night, as it howled through tree branches and around buildings. The wind did not affect the Galena Wildfire yesterday, near Fort Collins. The fire is at 90% containment and has burned 1,350 acres. Hopefully our fire fighters will be able to achieve total containment today, and we'll all be able to breathe a little easier.

   The cats had a a ball again yesterday, running in and out and playing tag with the squirrels and ravens. I'm preparing to go grab Rosie and Remy and take them to visit Boo. Remy will, hopefully, lay in the sunshine, while Rosie will chase her blue bone and the multiple squirrels in the yard. I need to stop in at the library and get some more books to read - hope I can find a few new ones that will meet my criteria!

   And my friend Michele sent a URL that I thoroughly enjoyed yesterday - it is a National Geographic magazine article about our wild horses, or mustangs, of today's West. It is well worth the time to read it, and it reminded me again of my heroine as a teenager - Wild Horse Annie (Velma Johnston) - I hope you will enjoy this highly informative article: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/02/wild-horses/fuller-text/1

Mom's Birthday

If my Mother were still alive, she'd be 92 years old today, and that just doesn't seem possible.  It is true, however, even if my mind doesn't want to stretch time back that far.  Dad would turn 90 in March.  It just doesn't seem right, somehow.  I can easily accept the fact that I'm 56, heading for 57 now; but Mom and Dad being that age? No way!  My first real recollection of their faces comes from when I was four years old and we were living in Kingsville, Texas; Dad was still in the Navy, and every two weeks he took Kathy, my sister, and I to ride horseback at King's Ranch Livery stable.  Kathy rode a beautiful bay mare named Cricket, and I rode an old-timer whose name was White Cloud.  Kathy and the other kids would walk, jog and lope around this huge field - since I was so small, and was sitting on a 16-hand horse, White Cloud just sort of ambled about - he went where I wanted to go, because I knew about reining, and he was an old cow horse, but we walked slowly. Everywhere.  We just walked.  One day, I caught White Cloud in the flank with a corn stalk, and he crow hopped a little bit.  I was ecstatic!  We had done something other than walk! I looked back toward my parents, and Mom's face was blue-white, while Dad was laughing hard with a red face.  Mom was scared that I'd fall off, and Dad was laughing because I was laughing. ....
   Mom gave me life, and taught me to love books and reading.  She inspired me with tales of hardship of early Chincoteaguers, and things she could easily remember, as the Island was so isolated.  She planted the seed for love of knowledge of the past, for the love of art work and creative sewing.  She was never an epicurean, but she definitely taught me how to cook and bake.  I was always amazed to hear what simple, small things brought her pleasure when she was a child - and now I find that I find those same things endearing and heart-warming.  Mom taught me to love totally, and to forgive those that hurt me, and to give as generously as I am able to good causes and things I believe in.
  Here's to Mildred Louise Johnson Nocks, a woman who was good, in every sense of the word.

Yowza, Yowza, Yowza!

Wednesday night we had rain and thunderstorms. When I arose Thursday morning, it was grey and drizzling out; I couldn't even see the Flatirons because of the fog and mist. I hoped the day wouldn't stay that way. (It did, in Boulder.) But I'm writing this with a sunburned face and neck, and I got that burn yesterday afternoon, up at Allenspark, riding in the Roosevelt National Forest. Kathy picked me up at 9:40, and we drove to Longmont, stopping at Barbed Wire Books on Main Street. I got four books, while Kathy chose one. Then we drove over to Wally World, picked up some deli stuff for lunch and some cold water for the ride. We arrived in Allenspark at 12:20; and as we were climbing up the canyon (in the car, of course), we began to see a brighter and, finally, a blue sky.... We pulled up at Sombrero Ranch Stables and ate our lunch in the car. Then the fun began. I had decided to play the complete tourist, and left my boots at home. Kathy changed from her Crocs to her "Daisy Mae combat boots" and I just rode in my sneakers. We both wore riding helmets, although our wrangler, Kawena, and the two men, Ken and Austin (father and son from Ohio) rode in their straw or leather cowboy hats. Kathy wore her baseball cap under her helmet - I just wore the helmet, and therefore got the back of my neck and upper shoulders sunburned, as well as my nose, chin, and forehead. - I don't care. I had the time of my life.
Kathy tried to use my camera to take video of me mounting and riding off on Simon; but somehow nothing was filmed. (Of course, she kept muttering to herself, "Not that button, this button..." and there are no photos or video of me very easily climbing the stairs and stepping onto Simon's back.) I took photos of her mounting, and several as we were riding along, and/or giving the horses a breather after a steep slope. All of the landscape photos were taken while I was on the move - either at a walk or a jog, from Simon's back. We crossed several streams, and there were four or five seeps that spread water across the trails we rode. I'd guess that 45% of the time we rode on a pretty level surface; the rest of the time we were either climbing or descending. The small of my back was up to it, but half the time I took me feet out of the stirrups and just moved with Simon - leaning forward or back, and giving him his head on steep slopes. There was one section of trail that was right at the edge of a steep precipice, and I thought that if I fell off and started rolling, no one would ever see me or hear from me again.
In a way, the ride was odd because we didn't see much wildlife, and very few birds.... We saw one mule deer doe about 100 yards away; we saw a Western Tanager, a Stellar Jay, a red-tailed hawk being mobbed by four crows, and we heard a whole lot of hummingbirds and a couple of chickadees, but we never saw them. We didn't see any squirrels, marmots, chipmunks .... It was absolutely gorgeous, but kind of eerie without wildlife.
After we had ridden for four hours, we arrived back at the barn. I could easily get my right foot out of the stirrup, but it took me three tries to get my leg up and over the back of the saddle to dismount. We all laughed. Then Kathy couldn't get her boots out of her stirrups - and we laughed again. Finally, we were all dismounted, and we gave our horses an apple each - then Kathy and I had to drive back down to Boulder, to pick up Mike and Jim so we could meet Sarah at Applebee's for supper. I finally returned home a few minutes after 9 p.m. and was greeted by indignant kitties. I fed them and loved them, checked the news, read a book until 11, and went to bed.
This morning, when I walked Rosie and Remy, I was presented with a beautiful home-grown flower arrangement, a very funny card, and a fantastic gift certificate by Nancy, Joel, and Max. Then I received many compliments on the flowers (I stopped counting at 14) on my way home. It's been an exciting day-and-a-half. .... And who do I pick for the Belmont? If the track is fast and dry, I choose Animal Kingdom, Master Of Hounds and Prime Cut. If the track is wet and muddy, I choose Shackleford, Mucho Macho Man, and Santiva. Have a happy, happy weekend!