wedding day minus 3

I am squeezing in one last day to go hunting , hopefully, with Howard County. And then it is off to California for Sarah's wedding!!!  I am so excited, find myself waking up every few hours during the night and going over all the details in my mind. In hindsight I wish I had gone out sooner because it will all go by so fast. Sarah has been up and down with equal joy, excitement and anxiety, the full gamut of pre-wedding emotions!  One reason I am going to try to go hunting is my own excitement . I keep buying clothes to go out to wedding. Hunting will be cheaper than staying home, I really just want to be in LA with my daughter!!  Can't believe my little girl is all grown up.

end of season

Closing hunt was a day of contrasts. Started with a blanket of snow thrown over the grass and forsythia blooms  and ended with a warm sunny afternoon that was a perfect end to season.  We had an early run but it seemed to be a tough scenting day as the hounds were hard pressed to really lock on to a line. Huntsman moved through country very fast and eventually all members were happy to wrap up about 1PM to get ready for Closing Breakfast. It is always bittersweet to hunt the last day. I enjoy seeing everyone for Paula's delicious breakfast - I wait all year for that bread pudding!- but I am ready to stop for awhile and have fun at hunter paces. This year, especially, I am ready for a wedding!!  Leaving soon for LA and Sarah's wedding.  Then I will start working on the 75th MHC Anniversary book, hoping to hear some fun stories from bygone days.

March snow coming!

Cherry blossom festival and snow! I believe this has happened before but I was so ready for spring warmth. I am going to be laughing on Sunday afternoon as members sit down to our closing Breakfast that will be decorated with Easter and spring in mind. Pansies, daffodils, Easter candies, white and yellow accents- all to a backdrop of late spring snow and freezing cold!!!  Oh well, the tables will look warm.  I am trying to squeeze in 3 last days of hunting in a row, starting today. And I hope there are no more late night phone calls from kids with challenging concerns. This is my last hunting hurrah, tho' the hunter paces are coming up. We had a terrific run on Wednesday with the best running fox of the season. He just kept going and going, thankfully kept looping back into country. If he had been a "visitor" and left country we would've been in a bad way because the local road crew had taken out our bridge access to another territory. The other whip and I and huntsman all said a silent thank you that this lovely big red kept turning left!!  He took us on two huge circles and after several hours we were all dog tired!  

Spring springs eternal

Even tho' it is cold and rainy this morning, I smile when I see the blossoms on the Thundercloud plum trees and the weeping cherries. The black wet branches end in the prettiest softest pink- they all look like Japanese wood cuts or prints.  Set against a cold grey sky, it is the perfect counterpoint to showcase the Spring and rebirth of beauty. You can smell the earth and the warm scent of spring even while bundled up. The earthworms are all out wiggling in the puddles from last nights storms. They better go back down because those puddles may freeze tonight. We leave in a week for LA and Sarah's wedding. I am so excited and hopeful for a lovely weekend affair.  Will said his house damages may be more reasonable than the first figure of $50,000!!!!  I am still speechless about that one. Sam is working hard on his college work and math degree, then job hunting, then another wedding!!  In my horse breeding world two mares have been bred, two to go. That also springs eternal. I sent two to Kentucky, one to Maryland and we think the fourth is going to New York. My partner is sending most to Kentucky. I hope Maryland racing sorts itself out, what a loss if the land and legacy of famous race horses leaves Maryland forever. I miss the babies this year, tho' I am definitely not missing the foal watch nights!

wedding showers and spring showers, both bringing flowers!

Busy, busy, busy. My son and his lovely fiance Stephanie had their engagement party/shower this weekend. It was really fun to meet everyone and it really is a great way for the families to meet before the actual wedding. It is now a fall wedding, October, which is going to be beautiful.  Sarah's wedding is next weekend !!!!  We are already to fly to LA  and  do the ceremonial " giving our daughter's hand in marriage" to Kevin, our handsome soon to be son-in-law. So exciting and so hard to believe she is old enough to get married. I have my hanky already in hand.  Though I think your children are your "kids " forever. William  called in the dead of night last night from college to say the water was pouring out of toilet all over the house. I love that the first reaction is call Mom, who is hours away, because she will fix it! I sleepily suggested turning the water off- hope he remembers to turn it back on!! He told me the landowner is not happy with them because they trashed the house in a frat party this weekend- well "Duh!"  My sister, Margaret  and I shared a martini over the phone last Friday night, commiserating on kids growing up and leaving and how  the concerns and "Mom's worrying"  never grows up and leaves. Wouldn't have it any other way, tho'! I feel incredibly blessed to be a part of my children's lives and cherish every moment.
 I am also squeezing in all the last hunts possible. Our closing is this Sunday and I will try to go out with HCIB a few more times. All the foxhunters are finishing  season healthy and sound- knock on wood. Still trying to get out with Piedmont, maybe this Thursday.  Today I am off to tax preparation appointment and then taking mare to Northview for a date with Lionhearted.  Some how it seems like taxes and horse business are always intwined!

our unconscious fears......

I woke this morning, sleepily saying goodbye to hubby and laughingly reported my dreams. Our unconscious must process those daytime fears and worries we have everyday and perhaps do not process at the time. As most of you know I whip for our foxhunt. One of my "duties" is to be ahead of huntsman as he draws through the woods and "coverts", so if there is any problem I can flank him and help the hounds. So, I woke from a dream that involved being way out of position hunting.  My huntsman was  yelling at me to cover one side while giving his location. Aghast ( in a dream) I realize he is miles from me and I need to get there yesterday! So, in the dream , I am madly galloping along roads and through fields, that look vaguely familiar, all the while trying to figure out how to get there from here!!. Complicating this dream sequence is the fact that the whole field has gotten lost and is now trying to follow me. They all think I know where to go, even tho'  I am just "galloping " by the seat of my pants, because in the dream nothing looks right and actual hunting locations are all mixed up in the dream. The fears of a "whipper-in"! The other really funny thing was that I was doing taxes just before bed last night and I remember, before being suddenly on my horse, I was doing double-entry accounting. I was thoroughly stumped on how to offset one entry and just going over columns and ledgers in my head- in my dream! This is what accountants must dream about !
On a somber note, I cannot imagine the nightmares that the survivors of the earthquake and tsunami must have. Can you imagine reliving a wall of water coming at you! Unbearable. My prayers continue for the Japanese and I hope the powers that be can contain the nuclear problem.

best buddies

My heart goes out to the Japanese people. Earthquake, tsunami, nuclear explosions, and I heard last night that a volcano is erupting in southern Japan! Another reactor explosion, hoping to avoid a meltdown- this seems like wrath of God stuff.  The rays of good news are the survivors rescued off rooftops at sea, little kids plucked from the waters, families reunited. Everyone is coming together to help. I pray that the reactor does not create another calamity. Families can survive if they have each other and new families are created by strangers just coming together. In the face of such hardship all that is really important is staying close and hugging the ones you love.

earthshaking....

The world has actually changed since the Japan quake. Apparently their coastline is different by 8 feet- not sure in which direction?- and the length of the day was shortened! These concepts boggle my mind. I know they say it is milliseconds but something so concrete as the length of our day changing in the fraction of an eye is deeply unnerving. I felt an earthquake once in Alaska and I remember being very disoriented by the shaking of the ground. It is not supposed to move!   I feel so sad for the people of Japan, especially those villages that apparently were swept away. They can't find a train, a whole train- that is hard to get your brain around. The pictures that really shocked me were the day after, when the sun was peeking out again and these poor people were picking through the mud and massive debris. Ordinary people in little rubber boots, wrapped in blankets, looking at utter devastation. How can, what,  6 hours of Mother Nature's mayhem, destroy your world so completely and then, next morning,  the sun comes back out, the wind dies down, the water recedes  and everywhere else in the world, everyone just starts a new normal day, while you are looking at the end of everything you knew. That is man's fragility handed to him on a platter. We are so unheeding of the forces of the natural world until they bring us to our knees. We are all Japanese in those moments of complete vulnerability to destruction. Yesterday I checked the forsythia for yellow buds - yes they are budding- but what I saw, was a bird's nest built of twigs, twine, plastic bags, a little bit of everything. I was struck by the fact that it was still there after the very high winds we have had this past month . I have had lots of big tree limbs down after this month's rain and storms, but this little nest stayed put in a forsythia shrub. Go figure.  I wish the Japanese much sunshine and I hope the world helps them recover.

Fairfax and lots of rain today

Fairfax was a lot of fun, though a long way to drive and a relatively short hunt. The first fox we jumped ran 2/3rd of the country's perimeter. Lucky for us, he kept turning right ( they must feed this fellow well) and stayed in-country. Lovely big rolling hills and scenery. Rain was coming in so we cut it short and Fairfax members hosted a lovely tailgate. It is always nice to say Hi to friends who live over on that side of beltway now. This morning it is pouring. The rain is here to stay for a day or so but at least it is warm enough. I took blankets off broodmares a while ago.  Very, very muddy but the sap is rising and it will be greener after this. Looks like parts of the country got hit very hard by this storm. Sam and Stephanie are looking at an early October wedding now. Funny how the universe works, this time of year was her initial choice  last year!

last hunts of this year

I am going to hunt with Fairfax today, possibly Piedmont on Saturday  and Andrews Bridge next week , as well as our last March hunts on Wednesdays  and Sundays.  The weather is OK, rain holding off,  I hope and warm enough. I love this time of year. The horses are fit and happy, eating the early spring grass and running around for the pleasure of it.  Sarah is back in LA, wedding around the corner. Will is doing awesome with his interviews for summer internships and Sam and Stephanie are figuring out the next plan. Sam is a very lucky man, Stephanie's true devotion and support for him is a lovely thing to witness. I see wonderful lives unfolding all around me, not without their trials, but the journeys that my kids have begun  fill me with joy for them. It is awesome indeed to see your children loved and loving in return!

early March spring rising

Spring madness. Basketball is coming but I am talking about a whirlwind visit by Sarah for her East Coast bridal shower. It was a wonderful few days and we packed lots of last minute wedding planning into it. Sunday night ended with a game of "fish bowl" enjoyed by all, sitting in the living room being silly. Lots of love and laughter,  just the perfect way to wrap up. Will had come home too. Love you all.  Sunday was a very rainy, warm but lots of rain and then Monday dawned with the green promise of spring around the corner. The willow tree had changed from bare branches to green overnight. Everyone noticed the peepers sound and the forsythia is dusted with yellow buds. The pregnant mare has been sent to foaling farm ( too close to Sarah's wedding to foal here), the other mares are due to ship to Kentucky in a week. I still go back and forth about breeding last mare in Maryland. I know stupidity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Am I being stupid or being smart by breeding when everyone else has stopped? Wish I had a crystal ball. I will wait until after March 15-16 when Maryland legislature has to approve changes in racing/slot money allocation. If it isn't approved I may want to still wait. So sad that Maryland racing has declined to this point. NO support from Maryland lawmakers at all it seems.

I heard the peepers yesterday!!!!

Yesterday was warm and beautiful in the morning. Hunting was cancelled with HCIB because of impending rain so I rode the girls through the woods and I heard the spring peepers! Deep in the woods, in the boggy marsh they were in full throated roar. It was softer than usual but definitely there. DA-DA - they are my first harbingers of Spring, the sound that gives me a boost when it is still cold. Today is the first of March. As I changed the calendar page on my birthday calendar, the one where I record important milestones, I realized it has been eleven years since my brother died. I was hunting that day at Dodon. It was a lovely morning and I will never forget breaking fingers in a crazy bucking horse incident  and then learning he had passed away, losing his cancer battle. Today I paused and thought, my Mom, Dad and brother, Ian, are now together  in heaven or wherever, watching the three of us girls, my sisters and I, and all the love and drama of our lives. I miss you and am really glad that you are together. I know that you will all be watching when my girl and boy walk down the aisle with respective spouses in the next two months. We will be smiling and thinking of you three angels, knowing you are not far away at all. Love and miss you.