Bits of This and That

No new foals have arrived since 30 June.  We're still expecting quite a few, so there may be a few more before Pony Penning Week (July 20 - 27), and there will probably be about 10 or so born after Pony Penning.  It's hard to believe that two weeks from today the combined herds will be getting their final assessment by the veterinarians before the Pony Swim, and decisions will be in the making on which foals to keep as Buy Backs for the breeding pool.  It also seems very strange not to be gossiping about the foals with Maureen Beebe this year...  Gosh, I miss her!

At the old Beebe homestead - left to right: Paul, Ricky and Clarence (Grandpa) Beebe; 

a Jeffries cousin, and Maureen Beebe.

 
Spent the last week in Old Town Louisville with two black Labrador Retrievers, Ivy and Esmé.  Esmé's owner has allowed her to revert to grabbing her hand with her mouth again - and she asked me to work with her on it while I was there.  I believe that the problem is the dogs don't see the owner as the pack leader...  As soon as I entered the house to do my week's stay, Esmé tried to grab my hand in her mouth.  I pulled it back, said "No!" in a loud voice, and stomped one foot at the same time I said 'no.'  Esmé did not try to grab my hand again during the entire stay, nor did she reach for peoples' hands as we walked around town and folks petted her.
  Not sure I'm going to continue working for this client. On Friday, the company that mows the lawn and does the edge trimming arrived, and I made certain the dogs were inside and closed and locked the doggie door to the back yard.  I had stepped out onto the porch to let the men know the dogs were safely inside, when the owner called me.  She was in a panic - where was Esmé?  Someone down the street had sent her the photo of a dog she found wandering down the street, and insisted it was Esmé.  I told her that her dog was inside the house, and she asked if I was sure.  I went back inside and sat down on the sofa, and I told her I had a dog sitting on either side of me, and that the identity tags said "Ivy" and "Esmé" so I was pretty sure the dogs were at home and with me...  It was crazy.

Old Town Louisville Main Street - I house-sit 6 blocks from here

A black bear on the outskirts of Boulder found an unlocked Subaru on a hillside driveway.  There were discarded food wrappers and a few left-over snacks in bags on the car's floor.  The bear opened the door of the car and climbed in.  The door closed behind him.  He made a mess of the interior trying to get out, and somehow, finally (using the police description) "butt shifted" the vehicle into reverse.  Since the parking brake was not on, the car rolled down the driveway, across the two lane road and on into a field, hitting several trees before stopping.  The striking of the trees caused the driver's door to pop open and the bear escaped, apparently undamaged....

Been working on genealogies for four sets of people - when I hit a roadblock on one family I switch to another and then head onward again. It's definitely not boring, though some people may think that looking at old records is a terrible way to spend a day and/or night.  My cousin asked me to look at someone in her husband's family, and I started at 2 in the afternoon; at 8 she told me she had named the wrong relative, so I switched my search over to the correct man and worked on him and his family until 4 this morning.  Found myself looking at Tribal Records from the Cherokee Nation, since the family was originally Shawnee, but had been adopted into the Cherokee.  It was extremely interesting!

Blue Jacket, a Chief of the Shawnee

Bits and Pieces

In the last two weeks, Boulder City schools have been placed on lockdown status 6 times because of black bears prowling the area seeking food before hibernating.  This morning and afternoon, two schools were on lockdown because of an adult mountain lion that kept eluding wildlife officers.  This is considered normal in Boulder, as we are in their territory, and the city has multiple greenway paths to facilitate wildlife in their natural movements.

When I moved into the apartment in July of 2015, and Beatrice moved in a month later, we asked the management if we could hang bird feeders in the young ash tree that is growing at the corner of our building.  Bea has great close-up views from her bedroom window, and I have good views from mine, and we can easily observe from our balcony as well.  (The cats watch, too.) We started with a single feeder, and now usually have 3 hanging in the tree.  There is also a hummingbird nectar feeder at the edge of our balcony. 
   We have been graced with awakening to the song of many types of birds since we moved in and began feeding them.  Besides the birds we feed, there are also many swallows with nests nearby, and they are frequently seen swooping through our parking lot, consuming insects, or sitting on signs and observing movements.  We have seen five types of sparrows, two kinds of finches, wrens, chickadees, crows, grackles, ravens, starlings, blue jays, red-winged blackbirds, ducks, and hawks in the trees and bushes near the feeders.  There are also herons flying over, thanks to the creeks (that's why we see ducks), and geese.  We also put out nuts and fruit for the squirrels and larger birds.
   However, 12 days ago everything ceased.  We used to have about 40 small birds flitting around, eating and singing as soon as it was light.  I saw two sparrows today for the first time in 12 days.  We have had one or two jays each morning, come and take a few nuts, call a thank you, and leave.  In the past week, there have only been two squirrels - one is a female and one is a small male with a broken tail.  No other birds.  No other squirrels - and we used to have 8 to 12 here at a single time.  Even the raccoons no longer visit at night.  The hawks are no longer in their nest behind the creek.
  Since we're on one of the greenways, with several multi-use paths converging at the back of our property, I have contacted the city of Boulder and the Greenways and Open Space offices about our sudden and total lack of bird and wildlife activity.  I am still waiting for them to return my contact, which is supposed to be within 5 working days.  I contacted them Monday morning; it's Friday night.

Still giggling over Stormy Daniels' description of the President - "Yeti pubes" and a genital part that looks like the character Toad from the Mario Kart computer game.....

I am incensed by Senator Grassley of the Republican Party and the Senate Judicial Committee's response to the alleged crime of Judge Brett Kavanaugh.  They want to get that judge appointed to the Supreme Court without an FBI inquiry into his alleged attempted rape of a co-ed.  They refuse to allow the accuser to have witnesses.  They want a "he says; she says" hearing that they can gloss over.  That man is a walking, talking lie-spewing machine.  If he - somehow - makes it to the seat of the Supreme Court - he needs to be impeached and tried immediately!

This And That..... Miscellany

With the edges of Hurricane Florence beginning to whip up the waters of South Carolina, my thoughts are with the folks who will be on the front lines when the areas re-open.  Right now, South Carolina is taking the first hits, while the winds will soon impact North Carolina, Georgia, the southern parts of Virginia around the Chesapeake Bay, and possibly all the way down to Daytona beach in Florida.  Florence is a huge storm, and even though she's only a Category 2  at this time, she will probably cause trillions of dollars of damage.
   I was worried about my beloved islands of Chincoteague and Assateague on the Eastern Shore of Virginia (and Maryland) - but it looks like they'll just receive the effects of a really nasty and long-lasting nor'easter.  The folks along the coast lines of the Carolinas, however, are in for a beating from the winds, and a drowning from rains and storm surge.  I feel for those who had to leave their homes, but that is one of the downsides of coastal living.  (Having been in Florida for 38 years, I know what I'm talking/writing about.)

    Last year, Hurricane Maria crashed through the US Territory of Puerto Rico.  Immediately after the storm, the number of dead caused by Maria was listed at 64.  As time has passed, and people have been questioned about health care and the aftermath of Maria, it turned out that the number of deaths related to Maria came to a total of 2,975.  This included those who died from heat prostration, from dehydration, from starvation, from filthy and impure drinking water, from not receiving medical care, etc.  -  And one of the latest finds was 20,000 pallets full of bottled water that have been lost for over a year - laying under tarpaulins where they were deposited, and sitting there while people died.
  Yesterday, as Hurricane Florence approached the United States, the current President denied this had happened.  He tweeted, "3000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico. When I left the Island, AFTER the storm had hit, they had anywhere from 6 to 18 deaths. As time went by it did not go up by much. Then, a long time later, they started to report really large numbers, like 3000."
  The President is refuting studies done by the US government and US universities.

Here in Boulder, a resident can tell that it's fall.  The leaves are changing colors early this year; a lot of juvenile mountain lions are on the move, leaving mom and siblings, and staking out their own territories; and our local population of black bears are raiding garbage cans and cars that have food left inside them.  I live in what is considered "downtown" North Boulder - it's on US 36, the main road from Denver to Rocky Mountain National Park.  A couple of weeks ago, a young (but adult) mountain lion was tranquilized and moved to RMNP from beneath the deck of a house 1/8 mile from US 36, and a couple of blocks from our apartment.  Earlier this week, a friend called to say she had seen a black bear opening trash cans 10 blocks from my apartment, and 6 blocks from her house.  The bears need to consume 15,000 to 20,000 calories per day to hibernate successfully.  And two elementary schools were placed on lock-down due to  the presence of a mother bear and three cubs in there vicinity for a full school day.

Two days ago, Bob Woodward's new book, Fear, was released for sale.  In it, Woodward details a conversation between former National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn and the 45th President.  They were discussing rising interest rates, the deficit, and the national debt, to which the President offered an interesting solution: "We should just go borrow a lot of money, hold it, and then sell it to make money," the book quotes the President.  Cohn told Woodward that he was "astounded" at the President's "lack of basic understanding" about how the government works, and what borrowing would mean.  When Cohn told the President that wouldn't work, the President came up with an alternative resolution - "Just run the presses," the President told him.  "Print money."  Gary Cohn again tried to explain the basics of debt, inflation, the stock market, and the debt ceiling worked, but the President just kept saying that he should print more money.  Woodward wrote "it was clear that" the President "did not understand the way the US government debt cycle balance sheet worked."
   But this really isn't news.  In May 2016, when the President was running for office, he told CNN's Chris Cuomo, "People said I want to go and buy debt and default on debt, and I mean, these people are crazy. This is the United States government.  First of all, you never have to default because you print the money, I hate to tell you, OK?" 
   Yes, it has been announced that the US will have a $21 trillion national debt at then end of this fiscal year, and not 2020, as previously believed.  But the President believes we can just borrow our way out of debt and then just print more money when he needs it....
   And, with Hurricane Florence about to strike the shore, and with all those other lovely hurricanes lined up behind her, I can't wait to see what this man, who stated, "I, alone, can help you," will do.  Not much, I think.

    It seems that there might be a hold-up in Judge Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court bid...  He has been, apparently, accused of unwanted sexual advances....  The FBI has been asked to investigate, and the voting on his SCOTUS seat has been postponed for a week.

   And it was also announced by ABC News that it appears that Paul Manafort has reached a plea deal with prosecutors in his second trial -  this one for 7 felony accounts including lobbying for a foreign country, not being registered as an agent for a foreign country and tampering with witnesses.  ABC stated that it is believed that the plea deal will be announced tomorrow in the Washington DC court.  At this time it is unknown whether he is just pleading guilty to the charges, or if he will assist Robert Mueller's Special Investigation to keep from spending so much time in jail.  (He is 69 years old.)

This 'n' That Miscellany

The three-year-old colt (actually, he's a ridgling) Catholic Boy ran away from everyone in the Mid-Summer Derby - otherwise known as the Travers Stakes, run at 1 1/4 miles at Saratoga.  Bravazo, the D Wayne Lucas trainee, who ran in all three Triple Crown races, was coming up hard to finish in third place behind Mendelssohn finishing second.  It was a really great race.
 
The President is complaining because he Google-searched his own surname plus the news, and found that most of the news stories listed ran toward negativity about his leadership.  He is swearing that Google needs to be investigated because they only list "Fake news."   -  The man is an idiot.

There were voting primaries in Arizona and Florida yesterday.  I grinned when I saw that ex-Sheriff Joe Arpaio finished last of three candidates where he ran.  I was very happy to see the ex-Mayor of Tallahassee, Andrew Gillum, won the Democratic Gubernatorial nomination. I could only sigh when I saw that DeSantis, the President's Republican pick, won that race.  DeSantis is such a suck-up to the man in the Oval Office - his advertisement for running was creepy, showing him reading a book supposedly written by the President to his son, and then helping his son build a wall of wood blocks, while chanting, "Build that wall!  Build that wall!  That's right, son, let's build that wall!"  And then his statement this morning, telling voter's not to "monkey up the election" by voting for Gillum, who is African-American.  That really set my teeth on edge.

I am still working on identifying a bunch of older photos of ponies that lived on Assateague Island - both in Maryland and Virginia.  Trying to match body markings on pintos is fairly easy - but when you're looking at anklets, socks and stockings when the ponies are either in sand, water, or grass and bushes can make it hard.  Most of the bays, chestnuts and sorrels on the north end of Assateague, in Maryland, have few distinguishing marks, and with the life in the wild, their coat colors can change dramatically between high summer and the dead of winter...  I've gotten half of the photos identified, but some of them are single "shots" and no other photos of that particular pony are posted elsewhere.  It's like working on  a family tree and/or a locked-door murder mystery.  Fun, but puzzling.

I've been reading quite a bit recently - still have five Tony Hillerman books to find and read to complete his series.  Then his daughter, Ann's, three books.  Have read about half of the C. J. Box books so far.  I've had several series recommended to me that are only available as electronic books that I have to download to my PC...  I might be tackling them soon - but I love to sprawl in my chair in the living room or on the balcony and read...  Being tied to the PC is not something I particularly want - and I positively hate reading on a tablet or Kindle or whatever...  I want a real book in my  hands.

I start eleven days of walks at 7:30 a.m. with the owner of 5 King Charles Cavalier Spaniels on Friday.  His wife is visiting family, and he needs help with the furry scurries.  On Labor Day, Monday, I start 3 to 5 weeks of cats, chickens and fish sitting while the owners go play in the Canadian Rockies...  They'll return when they feel like it, or the weather turns too cold.  That means fresh eggs on a daily basis and tons of fresh veggies and grapes from the garden, too. 

Bits and Pieces, a Miscellany

I really sympathize with Tahlequah, the orca mother, whose baby died soon after birth.  She has been carrying her dead calf on her head for 17 days, and has traveled over 1,000 miles since the death.  The oceanographers who have been studying her and the J pod of orcas off the coasts of Alaska and Washington are beginning to worry about her condition.  They don't know if other members of her pod are providing her with food, or if she is fasting.  Another member of the pod, a 3 1/2 year-old male, is is very poor condition and appears to be starving to death.  It is believed that he might have a huge parasite infestation or an infection of some type.

Wilbur L Ross Jr is the current Secretary of Commerce for the United States.  It has recently been reported that he has "grifted" (or swindled) about $120 million from business associates over the past 20 years.  And is still laughed at for being such a tight-wad that he steals hands fulls of Sweet'N'Low artificial sweetener from restaurants so he won't have to spend his own money to purchase a box for home use....

New York Republican and US Representative Chris Collins has been arrested by the FBI and charged with insider trading.  Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York allege that Collins, while he was a board member of the Australian company Innate Immunotherapeutics, gave a tip to his son Cameron last year about a failed drug trial that would soon  be announced.  His son used that information to dump the company's stock and avoid a six-figure loss, the Justice Department alleges, and Cameron Collins passed that information along to his father-in-law.  Both of those men were charged along with Collins.  All three pleaded not guilty.
  Since July 2017, Federal Election Commission records show Collins' campaign has been paying up to $60,000 per month in legal services to prestigious law firm BakerHostetler.  The firm is representing Collins in the case.  While it is legal to use campaign funds to pay for legal fees, it's not clear if donors or consitituents knew their money was paying for Collins' legal fees.  These legal fees covered the time period of two separate House of Representatives probes, including one by the Office of Congressional Ethics and another by the House Ethics Committee.

A District of Columbia Federal District Judge - Emmet Sullivan - erupted at the Trump administration yesterday when he learned that two asylum seekers fighting deportation were, at that moment, being deported and were on a plane to El Salvador. Judge Sullivan then blocked the administration from from deporting the two plaintiffs while they are fighting for their right to stay in the United States. He excoriated the administration and threatened to hold Attorney General Jeff Sessions in contempt of court.
  Sullivan agreed with the American Civil Liberties Union that the immigrants they are representing in a federal lawsuit should not be deported while their cases are pending.  The emergency hearing in the case turned quite dramatic when attorneys discovered partway through the hearing that two of their clients were on a plane to El Salvador.  The government raced to comply with the court's order, and by Thursday evening the immigrants had arrived back in Texas after being turned around on the ground in El Salvador.

ProPublica, a non-profit outfit that seeks to provide free public information, dropped a bomb-shell the other day, when they released their report on the three men pulling the strings at the Veteran's Administration.  All of their information came from making FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests, and from one-on-one interviews.  David Shulkin, the VA administrator, was pushed out by the current group in the White House - or so it was thought.  The FOIA papers show that three of Trump's golf cronies from Mar-a-Lago are now running the VA, from behind a curtain - just like the Wizard of Oz.  The three men are: Ike Perlmutter, the chairman of Marvel Entertainment; Bruce Moskowitz, a Palm Beach doctor who helps wealthy people obtain high-service "concierge" medical care; and Marc Sherman.  All are members of Mar-a-Largo; none has ever served in the military, and none have hands-on business experience running a medical center, let alone the vast beast that is the Veteran's Administration.
   For complete information see:  https://www.propublica.org/article/ike-perlmutter-bruce-moskowitz-marc-sherman-shadow-rulers-of-the-va

And since Justify, the American Triple Crown winner of this year was forced to retire due to a recurring injury in his left leg, the Breeders Cup Classic for this year is now wide open.  The Breeders Cup races will be held at Churchill Downs on November 2nd and 3rd this year, so be sure to mark your calendar!

This and That

An interesting medical study was released yesterday, correlating the use of digital media and the increasing diagnoses of ADHD - Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.  ADHD symptoms include inattention, hyperactivity, restlessness, or impulsivity that is more severe, frequent, or debilitating than normal.  The study followed a group of teenagers who had no, little, average, or above average usage of "digital media" - Smart phones, tablets, etc - and found those people who accessed their digital media more than 14 times per day were likely to be diagnosed with ADHD as they aged.

The 45th President of the United States was amazed and aghast by the American people's response to his "wonderful" time with President Putin in Helsinki.  He went on television today to say that he "misspoke" and meant that he thought he conveyed the idea that Russia might have interfered in the US 2016 election.  - I believe he did not misspeak, and that he meant exactly what he said...
   He also stated, "We met with the Queen, who is absolutely a terrific person, where she reviewed her honor guard for the first time in 70 years, they tell me.  We walked in front of the underguard, and that was very inspiring to see and be with her.  And I think the relationship, I can truly say, is a good one.  ...  She was very, very inspiring, indeed."  -  Why is the President using the Royal "we?"  The Queen reviews the Coldstream Home Honor Guard multiple times each year.  And the Queen has only been Queen for 66 years - how could she not have reviewed her Honor Guard for 70 years?  Not to mention the fact that she was wearing a beautiful blue brooch that was a gift of the Obamas' during 45's visit; or that their "tea" lasted for 17 minutes only....
   And regarding his belligerence at the NATO meeting, he stated: "The press covered it quite inaccurately.  They said I insulted people.  Well, if asking for people to pay up money that they are supposed to pay is insulting, maybe I did.  But I can tell you when I left, everybody was thrilled and that's the way this was, too.  My meeting with President Putin was really interesting in so many different ways because we haven't had relationships with Russia for a long time.  And we started." -  Oh I can totally believe that "...when I left, everybody was thrilled..."  That stupid man doesn't think anything through before he says it!  (And, being a nasty, bitchy woman with a prurient mind, his comment about Putin and relationships with Russia being so very interesting in different ways makes me wonder what he's been up to with Vladi...)

Here in Boulder, we've just been notified that a "violent sexual predator" has been released from jail, and, having to declare a residence, has filed papers saying he is homeless and will be camping out along Fourmile Creek, within the city limits.  He states that he'll be staying east of Broadway, near Rosewood Avenue.  A lot of the citizens are suddenly upset because they live near there, in new, upscale homes and/or apartments and they are suddenly worried over their safety.  This is two blocks away from the Homeless Shelter, which is across the street from a topless girlie bar...  Am I the only person who finds this confusing?

I had planned on rehanging out outdoor balcony lights yesterday, but just didn't feel like it.  It was cloudy and threatening rain all day, after a day of clouds and rain on Sunday.  I slept and read, and slept and read...  Finished a new Alyce Clare book, and began a new Paul Doherty book.  Will hang the lights when I finish posting for the day...

Bits and Pieces

We are cleaning the apartment for the impending visit of Beatrice's oldest sister, along with her two daughters, from California.  Bea spent the day dusting and scrubbing and doing laundry.  I spent the day taking care of other peoples' critters: hens, goldfish, cats, and dogs.  Our vacuum has decided not to work again, so I borrowed a Hoover from the house I'm now at.  Boy, that thing picks everything up!  We might have to purchase one of those....

The big wildfires in California that sprang up after the Fourth of July have calmed down a bit.  The fires here in Colorado are still raging.  It's supposed to reach 100 degrees (F) here today - I'll be bringing the plants inside mid-morning, after watering them generously at dawn.  The balcony and silvery-grey coloring of our building reflects the heat and the plants scorch on really hot days.

On 4 July, the RV Explorer crew identified a recently discovered wreck.  The wreckage of the D/S Octavian has been positively identified and confirmed through the recovery of the engine and boilers builders' plaque.  This was further confirmed by Jorgan Johannassan of the Maritime Museum in Oslo, Norway.  The wreck is 70 miles from Cape May in 227 feet of water.  The Octavian was owned by A/S Rederiet Julian, and was a 250-foot freighter carrying sulfur and wood resin.
  The Octavian  left Galveston, Texas on 9 January 1942 bound for St. John, New Brunswick, Canada.  The freighter never arrived, and all crew members along with the ship vanished without a trace. There were sixteen Norwegians and one Canadian aboard the Octavian.
  It is now believed, with this wreckage discovery, that the Octavian was sunk by the German U-Boat 123.  The deck logs of U-123 indicate that Commander Hardegen (on his 7th war patrol) sunk an unidentified freighter in the location of the now-identified Octavian on 17 January 1942.  The ship sank in a plume of black smoke in less than a minute after being hit with a stern torpedo.
  The U-123 is also credited with sinking the Cyclops, Norness, and Coimbra prior to the Octavian.  After watching the Octavian sink, the U-Boat traveled at full speed toward Cape Hatteras,North Carolina, where she is recorded as having sunk four more ships and damaging a fifth.
  Credit for this project and research go to the RV Explorer team: Rustin Cassway, Brian Sullivan, Michael Dudas, and Tom Packer.  Others who helped were: Gary Gentile, Hildrun Sommer, Evie Dudas, Richie Kohler,Adam Crouthamel, Bob Cope, Bob Duckenfield, Sean Manni, and the Maritime Museum in Oslo, Norway.

No new foals on the southern end of Assateague Island since 30 June, but there are several mares that have yet to produce their babies.  Unfortunately, we have lost a third foal this summer; Poco's Starry Night's black filly has not been seen since 1 July.  We are assuming that she has succumbed to nature.

And the 45th President nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the new open position on our Supreme Court.  Judge Arthur Kennedy resigned, which leaves a seat open.  Now, when Barack Obama was President, Congress hemmed and hawed and wouldn't even agree to have an appointment hearing for Obama's nominee.  I bet they try to push a hearing through for Kavanaugh before the mid-term elections in October.   And I really want the Congress to grow a spine and reject this man out of hand, without any long thinking about it.

Miscellany

Colorado's primary voting concluded on Tuesday - and we're still awaiting a winner in one race, the Democratic pick for the Attorney General's office.  Late last night there were still 50,000 votes that needed to be hand checked and verified, and there was about a 9,000 vote difference between the two men.  Phil Weiser is currently in the lead, while the candidate I favor, Joe Salazar,  is not yet willing to concede.  I hope that Joe prevails, even if there must be a re-count.  In any event, I will be supporting the Democratic ticket and not the Republican one.

   We have had sixty-one foals born so far in the Virginia Chincoteague pony herd on the southern end of Assateague.  We have had two deaths of foals, the first due to unknown causes on Assateague, and the second was due to "failure to thrive."  Then there is the mystery foal - he became separated from his Mom before he was a day old, and tried to attach himself to a mare who was still pregnant.  He has been adopted by Bay Girl, who lost her foal. -  So, 59 babies so far will be available at the Pony Auction on 26 July, and there are quite a few mares that are still pregnant.

   Today is supposed to be the hottest day of the year so far in Boulder - and, currently, the humidity is also high - for Boulder.  Currently, the temperature is 80, with a high forecast of 102, and the humidity is 40%.  At this time of year, the humidity is usually 7 to 12%, and you don't realize you're sweating because your sweat evaporates immediately...

   My sister attended her 50th High School Reunion in Gainesville, Florida this past weekend, and had a blast reconnecting with her school buddies and old friends.  She was amazed by how much the city has changed and sprawled outward in so many directions.  And she was able to visit the house we lived in from 1960 through 1982, plus the Devil's Millhopper and Payne's Prairie State Park.  She returned to Boulder quite happy with her adventure.

  I am still learning all the new tricks I can with my new camera - besides still shots, it also doubles as a digital video recorder.  I'm afraid my hands aren't quite steady enough for filming any longer, and I'll need to invest in a tripod - I loaned my good tripod to my son 25 years ago and haven't seen it since...

   The Colorado voting race for the Governor will be interesting.  The Republicans chose Walker Stapleton, while the Democrats chose US Representative Jared Polis.  We'll have to see whom other parties choose to run.  Our current Governor, John Hickenlooper, is term-limited and cannot run again this year.  Once Polis and Stapleton were declared winners of their respective primaries, verbal barbs were again in use:  "On almost every question before us in this election... Walker Stapleton comes out on the wrong side and the people of Colorado know that," Polis said in his victory speech, mentioning health care, immigration, and honesty as his rival's faults. - In his victory speech, Stapleton blasted Polis for supporting tax hikes and "a government takeover of your health care. ... The choices could not be clearer; the difference could not be more stark."
   Walker Stapleton is serving his second term as Colorado State Treasurer and is a relative of the Bush family.  (His mother is first cousin to President George H. W. Bush.) His family has been active in Colorado since the early 1900s, and his great-grandfather Benjamin F Stapleton (a very proud member of the Ku Klux Klan) was the mayor of Denver.  Walker grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut and attended the private Brunswick School. He graduated from Williams College in Massachusetts, received a graduate degree in business economics from the London School of Economics, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.  He is the son of US diplomat Craig Roberts Stapleton.  He is married and has three children, and is 44 years of age.  He is trying to become only the second Republican elected governor in 44 years, and has aligned himself with noted Republican firebrands.
   Jared Polis is a five-term Boulder Congressman, and if he wins the Governor's seat in November, will be the nation's first openly gay man elected to a Governorship.  His parents, whose surname is Schutz, started Blue Mountain Publishing Company, printing greeting cards and books.  In 2000, Jared legally changed his name to use his mother's surname, in part to raise public awareness for a fund-raiser, and because he simply "liked it better." Polis lived in San Diego, California during his high school years, and graduated from La Jolla Country Day School in three years with multiple honors.  He received his BA in politics from Princeton University. He has started and sold several businesses, served on the Colorado State Board of Education, is a well known philanthropist, and is one of the ten richest men serving in Congress. He has a partner of many years and two adopted children.  He refuses PAC money for his campaigns.

This and That Miscellany

Our family moved to Gainesville, Florida in July of 1961; Dad had retired after 22 years in the Navy, was going to get a teaching degree at the University of Florida  using the GI Bill, and I had just turned 5 years old.  Dad wanted to live in "a place where I never have to shovel snow again," and he had been stationed at Vero Beach and at Whiting Field, near Pensacola.  I spent my school years, except the summers, in Gainesville, and I also attended the University of Florida after graduation from high school.  We lived in the south east section of Gainesville, a relatively poor section of town, outside the city limits.  We were friends with people of all colors, races, and religion.  We frequently traveled to the island of Cedar Key, in Levy County, in the Gulf of Mexico.  I had no idea we were going through what would have been the town of Rosewood, were it still standing.  In 1982, information about Rosewood and the horrific racial injustice that happened there became common knowledge.  Today, I was saddened by reading a newspaper article about the last house in Rosewood, and I am wondering what it's fate might be....   Please read this article.  I wish I had the means to purchase, keep, and develop this building and the land around it, for the sake of all people who have had to withstand injustice - including the current owner.  Her story, too, is heart-rending...    http://www.tampabay.com/data/2018/06/06/the-last-house-in-rosewood/

  Justify, the newly honored Triple Crown Champion, has returned to Churchill Downs and seems to have no ill effects from such a compacted major schedule.  He ran in his first race 112 days before he won the Belmont, and won the 13th Triple Crown in 100 years.  He will appear for racing fans on Saturday, June 16, in the paddock and on the track.  Then he will travel back to Santa Anita, his home base.
   And I had to laugh out loud at  an owner of another horse in the Belmont Stakes, who claimed that Justify's stablemate, who is not even owned by the same people, was sent out to "run interference" for the big chestnut.  Restoring Hope bolted at the start, under jockey Florent Geroux, went wide on the first turn and then moved back closer to the rail.  He finished 8th.  The horse usually runs back in the middle of the field and then runs in the later stages. 

  And the orange turkey in the White House seems to loose more marbles every day...  First the G7 Summit, where he wanted his pal Vladi reinstated, and then refusing to agree to the final compact.  Then he insults all of the members, except Abe of Japan, and tries to belittle and beat down Justin Trudeau of Canada.  He leaves early to go to Singapore to met with Kim Jong Un, where he gives the North Korean dictator everything he wants, and gets nothing in return for our country.  Stopping the US-South Korea war games is a significant concession to Kim, and to receive in return only a promise of a "complete" denuclearization - rather than the complete, verifiable, and irreversible kind to which the current administration has been referring in the entire lead-up to this summit - is NOT enough, in the immediate term.
Not to mention two of the orange majesty's comments in a news conference about the meeting: 
1:  "Honestly, I think he's going to do these things.  I may be wrong, I mean I may stand before you in six months and say, hey, I was wrong - I don't know that I'll ever admit that, but I'll find some kind of an excuse."
2:  "As an example, they have great beaches.  You see that whenever they're exploding their cannons into the ocean, right?  I said, "Boy, look at that view.  Wouldn't that make a great condo?"  And I explained, I said, instead of doing that you could have the best hotels in the world right there.  Think of it from a real estate perspective.  You have South Korea, you have China, and they own the land in the middle.  How bad is that, right?  It's great." 

Miscellany

I have to admit that I was happy to hear that the ABC/Disney television show "Roseann" was cancelled.  I was horrified by the tweet that the star of the show, Roseann Barr, had sent out, stating that an aide to previous President Obama looked like the result of a mating between a Muslim and a creature from The Planet of the Apes.  After having the show immediately cancelled, Barr tried to explain the tweet, saying she sent it at 2 a.m. on a long holiday weekend, and she was also taking Ambien.  Ambien is a prescribed medication that helps a person sleep, and it does have a few side-effects.  However, as the manufacturer of Ambien stated, none of the possible side-effects are racism or bigotry.  Those things are inside the person already.  Period.  Full stop.
   It looks as if, at the moment, there will be eleven colts racing in the Belmont Stakes, the third leg of the Triple Crown, on Saturday, 9 June.  So far, the trainers of the following colts have said they plan on running in the 1 and a half mile race:  Justify, who has won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness; Bravazo, the only other colt who has run in both previous races; Bandua; Blended Citizen; Free Drop Billy; Gronkowski; Hofburg; Noble Indy; Restoring Hope; Tenfold; and Vino Rosso.  I won't comment on odds or my likes until the day of the post position draw, as the entries might change significantly between now and then.
   I also have to say that I laughed out loud when I saw that the polyester-haired cheeto in the Oval Office now claims that he never said that he fired FBI Director James Comey over "the Russia thing."  Talk about sheer idiocy!  Anyone can watch his interview with Lester Holt on NBC and watch him say that "the Russia thing" was the reason he fired Comey....  Of course, I wouldn't put it past him, or his paid lawyers, to claim that the man we see on tape wasn't the President - it was a stand-in, who went off script...
  There have now been 44 foals born this year to the herd of wild ponies on Assateague Island, that belong to the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company.  We, unfortunately, have lost two, even though the second one was under the care of a veterinarian.  But there are currently 42 babies bouncing and bucking around the southern end of Assateague.  One foal has been born in Maryland so far, and it looks as if there are three or four other mares expecting babies on the north end.  There were two pony deaths confirmed on the Maryland side; Dr. Jay (N9BFT-K) and Madeline Rose (N2BM) after their annual pony census.
   When I was a kid, I thought I'd spend my retirement years in a cottage on Chincoteague Island, surrounded by friends and a huge group of children and grandchildren.  Looking at my 62nd birthday, it seems odd.  I live in an apartment, with a view of the Rocky Mountains.  I am a widow, with no children or grandchildren of my own.  I live with a friend and two cats.  I correspond, by e-mail, with friends spread across the country.  I miss the sound of the surf, the flashes of the light house at night, the distinct smell of marsh mud, the cries of the sea birds, the smell of the salt water and salt mist and salt fog, and the sound of voices from the past....

Miscellany

The past several days have been a television viewing pleasure - Clint Watts has been interviewed multiple times, as has Malcolm Nance and Naveed Jamali.  Several appearances by Richard Painter, and some of my favorite Congressmen and Congresswomen have also sweetened the view.  I did not watch the State of the Union address last night, but I did watch Joe Kennedy's Democratic rebuttal.  And I loved Joe Biden's tweet about Joe's speech.  I also laughed myself silly when Sarah Suckabee Sanders said that polls show that "no one" in America is interested in the Russia investigation....  What a hoot!
   Anyway, we've had warm weather and wind the past few days, but there is still snow and ice in the parking lot here.  It was 62 degrees yesterday, but then 26 last night...  Today, clouds are clinging to the tops of the Flatirons, while there are mostly clear skies to the north and east.  Besides our filled bird feeders, Bea tossed out raw almonds for the birds and squirrels this morning.  The usual ravens and blue jays were here, and then a flock of about 100 starlings appeared, but they left after ten minutes.  Tipsi, the white tail-tipped squirrel, has been much in evidence the past few days; and our usual sparrows, finches and chickadees are abundant.
  Tonight is the really wild and crazy lunar event - there's a "super" moon, a "blue" moon, a "blood" moon, and a total lunar eclipse.  My brother-in-law and his neighbor are planning out the best place to be, at the best time, to take photos of the event...  I plan on sleeping.  I'll see all sorts of wonderful photos via the internet tomorrow.
   I finished reading Emergence, the latest C. J. Cherryh Foreigner series book.  - And I want another new one, immediately, as usual.  Last night I finished reading the latest Pendergast novel, City of Endless Night, by Preston and Child - and I want another new book in that series, too.  I'm starting to re-read all the Pendergast novels, in order, again.
   And - just to be silly -  Enlighten yourself!  Go read a new book!
 

I'm Back With - Miscellany - Tonight

Well, Pony Penning is over for 2017 - the major part, anyway.  Fall round-up will be October 13 and 14th, when folks who purchased younger foals will return to pick them up, and the veterinarian will give everyone another quick check-up.  I don't how how much money the raffle tickets for King Neptune brought in, but the 62 foals sold (including the ten designated Buy Backs)  brought in $209,900.  It was also reported that other items auctioned - art, photographs, arts and crafts, T-shirts, etc. - brought in another $3,300.  Pony Penning was successful this year.
    I have up-dated the previous post with the auctioned foals information twice; today it was to add the 24 names that the youngsters have been given by their new owners. Still waiting to hear what the CLG decides to name their colt and filly, as well as a few other Buy Backs.  The names of purchased and removed foals are slowly percolating through Chincoteague Pony lovers.   I'll post them as I learn of them.
    One of the dogs that I care for crossed over the Rainbow Bridge Monday evening.  I'm pretty sure her owner had her put down.  She was a delightful 12-year-old mutt, named Tess.  She bounded like a gazelle, and pounced like a fox on prey.  She began having seizures around Christmas.  The owner believes in holistic medicine and would not put the dog on "normal" seizure medication until 8 weeks ago.  The medication made the dog unsteady on her feet, gave her a tremendous appetite, and caused her to drool excessively when sleeping.  The dog had good days and bad days, and was slowly getting adjusted to the medication.  The owner's daughter and I have been the dog's most active care-givers, as the owner has been "home" only six weeks since Christmas.  I was notified by a Facebook posting that the dog had "left us."  I will miss that happy, romping, black girl for a long, long time.  Goodbye, Tessa.
    I laughed out loud today when I read the news that officials on the University of Colorado campus here in Boulder sent Tweet and e-mail alerts to all students that a "rare" and "extremely dangerous" badger had been seen on campus.  A number was given to call in sightings, and students were told to avoid the badger at all costs....   What a laugh!   If a badger is protecting its' young, or if it's cornered, will fight to protect itself (or its' young).  It does not rampage about, causing mayhem wherever it goes.  When the Department of Wildlife was contacted about the message, they laughed.   Badgers are usually seen a little farther north and west, on the edges of Estes Park, and in the Rocky Mountain National Forest.  They are somewhat unusual around Boulder, but CU sure made a fuss over nothing.
 
    OK - I'm going back to politics for the moment.   Since I started this blog, I have had comments made in many foreign languages.  If it's a language I recognize, I translate it.  But when I last worked in Washington, DC, for the EPA, I was still getting weekly visits from FBI agents to view my folder of "odd/unusual" comments.  Once I began this blog, I hate to say it, but I routinely delete any comments written to me in Cyrillic or a Middle Eastern language. Since spring and summer of 2016, I have had an upswing in the number of comments in those languages.  So I was interested in learning about Russian bots and how they grab certain words and send "disinformation" to the writer. - I wrote a blog on this s few months ago.
    Today a friend, and several of his colleagues, who have worked for the US government in the past in the area of cyber security, have opened a new website called Hamilton 68.  It does not show the response on the internet - but it shows how the bots, implemented by Russia and their comrades, react to words on Twitter.   If you ever use Twitter, look at this site!   Once you get there, there is a button for first-time users that explains pretty much anything you want to know - the site can be viewed at: http://dashboard.securingdemocracy.org   I highly recommend at least one visit - the information is mind-boggling.

   Two other political items, and I'll be quiet for the night.  My jaw dropped tonight when I heard that the current President wants to have the Commander of the US forces in Afghanistan, Army General John Nicholson, fired by his Pentagon Generals.  He stated, "We aren't winning."  And went on to ask why we haven't demanded a share of the $1 trillion in mineral wealth that Afghanistan owns for "US aid and assistance."  After the President left the meeting, a shouting match was overheard between Steve Bannon, the White House chief strategist, and H. R. McMaster, the White House National Security Adviser.  - But then I remembered that the President had said something along those lines during his campaign....   I had no idea that America expected Afghanistan to pay us for a war against ISIL and the Taliban waged in their own country.
    The other thing is the new immigration laws and limits that the 45th Administration wants to impose.  Not only does this group want to ban all immigrants of Muslim faith, they now want to decrease the number of legal immigrants each year.  The new immigration laws they are calling for will limit legal immigration by 50% over a period of 10 years by reducing the number of relatives allowed to join families later.  They will cut refugee numbers to 50,000 people per year.  They will end the diversity visa lottery that currently allows 50,000 from under-represented countries to receive a green card.  And they will most highly favor those immigrants who speak English, have skills to raise the economy, and who can financially support themselves and their families upon arrival in the United States.
    In a televised news conference today, White House adviser Stephen Miller was presenting the above outlines to an array of reporters, when Jim Acosta, a CNN representative, quoted the first few lines from the poem on the base of the Statue of Liberty on Ellis Island in New York City's harbor: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses..."
* The Statue of Liberty, actually named Liberty Enlightening the World, was a gift from the country of France to help us remember their assistance during the Revolutionary War.  Edouard de Laboulaye, a French political thinker and an abolitionist, proposed the idea of the statue - and made certain that a broken shackle and chain were placed at her right foot to show that America had broken the shackles of oppression and tyranny.  American people raised the money for the shipping of the gigantic statue for more than 6 years, and she was unveiled and dedicated on Thursday, 28 October 1886. *
    After Acosta spoke those lines, Miller stated, "The poem you were referring to was added later. It's not actually part of the original Statue of Liberty."  Miller went on to say that the statue is a "symbol of American liberty lighting the world" and suggested that it had little to do with immigrants of any kind.  This has caused a huge amount of protests today.
  *While waiting for the statue to be assembled in New York harbor, writers and authors asked Emma Lazarus, a poet and descendant of Jewish immigrants, to write a sonnet that would be sold at auction to raise money for the gigantic pedestal that was needed for the statue to rest upon.  Emma Lazarus wrote "The New Colossus" on 2 November 1883 inspired by the plight of immigrants and refugees, and her own experiences in New York City.  The poem appeared in The New York Times and in Joseph Pulitzer's New York World.  Lazarus died in 1887 and her poem was forgotten.
    In 1901, Georgina Schuler, a friend of Emma's, found a book containing the poem, and began an effort to resurrect the work, have it inscribed on a plaque, and placed on the statue's pedestal.  The sonnet reads:

  "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore."

I hope all of you have a wonderful August!

Bits and Pieces

It was nice and warm yesterday, and I spent most of the day listening to the sound of snow-melt pouring from the roof.  I also finished reading Cabinet of Curiosities, then read a Michael Jecks' Knights Templar mystery, and the started on The King's Curse by Phillipa Gregory...  Today should be nice and sunny again, as well as tomorrow.  The Chinook wind will begin Friday night, and is supposed to end sometime Sunday...  On Sunday, I'l be taking care of Tugger and my kits only, and I will be able to breathe easy again.
   I'm hoping that the Colts and the Packers will be winners this weekend, in pro football, so I can root for Green Bay in the Super Bowl.  If the Patriots beat the Colts, then I'll be rooting for whatever team is facing Tom Brady's arrogance.
   So...  Jack Del Rio, the Broncos' defensive coordinator, is now the head coach for the Raiders.  Adam Gase, the Broncos' offensive coordinator, has had six interviews for a head coach position, including one with John Elway, the general manager of the Broncos.  John Fox's new coaching berth is still an open question...  
   The National Western Stock Show is still bulling along, and has another 10 days to run.  I would love to be able to go and spend several days just soaking up all the exhibitions, all the different kinds of livestock, and all of the rodeos and horse shows.  The local news station has spent the morning with the Petting Zoo exhibition, and it's been fun watching "city girls" learning to catch, pick up, and hold baby goats, baby pigs and loose chickens.  I have to admit I grin like an idiot watching these ladies, dressed to the nines, and listening to their comments as they try to grasp and hold a live, wriggling critter.  (Is that mean-spirited of me?)  I mean, I really giggled when a reporter grasped a chicken, held it to her chest and then yelled, "Oh, crap!" when the chicken did exactly that....
   I hope your week is going well - and that your weekend is something to look forward to!