Found Her !

The highlight of last year’s month long visit was finding the 5 month old filly everyone was talking about. We first heard about the December baby when we checked in at the Ranger Station. A December birth is unusual in the horse world and almost unheard of within the Maryland herd.

It took us several days to find her but our persistence was rewarded. She had what I considered to be an unusual color pattern, a brown and white pinto with brown, black and white mane and tail. She had a very distinctive tiny brown spot within a large white patch on her left side. Her other distinctive mark was a white and black splotch on her forehead. Thinking no one would notice her gone, I wanted to scoop her up and stuff her in our truck. She was a real cutie and I wondered how much her appearance would change in a year’s time. I was pretty confident we would recognize her in years to come. I have since found out her coloring isn’t that unusual but her markings are unique.

So, it’s next year already and we’ve been here just over a week. We found the band with her sire, the strong and well built pinto stallion with the map of GA on his left side grazing in the marsh between the Ranger Station and the bridge. Surprise! We not only found my little filly but also a second yearling filly born over Memorial Day weekend last year. We were delighted to find both foals born last year were in the same band.

My filly has grown significantly but still has those two distinguishing features and I still very much want to put her in the truck and take her home however it would no longer be an easy fit.

One More Of The Bucket List

I get to cross one more thing of my Bucket List this weekend. I’ve always wanted to be in Washington, DC for the blooming of the Cherry Blossoms.

Our side trip found us at Cherry Hills RV Park just outside of DC where we were educated on which bus and Metro would get us into the city on the following day. And oh what a day it was! We exited the Metro at L’Enfant Plaza and walked about ½ mile to the Tidal Basin where we discovered a vibrant blue sky, bright sunshine, 70 degree temps and a crowd of more than 500,000 people all wanting to get the best angle or the best view on their cameras, cell phones and tablets. There was even a couple of people from MacGilvery Films with an Imax camera on this huge tripod. Every step I took around the Tidal Basin involved waiting for a chance to take a photo, watching out for people who were taking a photo or making sure we weren’t walking into someone’s shot.  

However difficult our 3 mile meander was, the brilliance and multitude of those blossoms more than made up for it. The original cherry trees were a gift from Tokyo City in 1912. Over the years, mature trees have provided additional root stock and now April is the place to be for all things cherry in the nation’s capitol.

It’s of interest to mention a few years back Tokyo cherry trees experienced some kind of blight and began to die off. In the spirit of keeping the original strain alive and international cooperation, Washington sent a number of cuttings back to the country of their birth. It’s also interesting to note how pale these blossoms are when compared to other varieties of cherry trees. So when you look at a post card or someone else’s photos, remember my photo above and how someone “pushed” the colors in Photo Shop.

I just realized the Bucket List is longer now than it was one year ago.


Note to Self: April in VA is still too early for the kinds of  outside places we might enjoy.

Massanutten Resort

Week of April 4 - 11, 2015

I’m happy to report our travel to VA was uneventful. After have gallery duty at Artistic Roots in Plymouth, NH on the 4th, Carl and I hit the road and drove to our overnight stop just the other side of Hartford, CT at a Wal-Mart . There are, after all , a few we haven’t visited  yet.

 On Easter Sunday , we took great pleasure with the beautiful day and arrived at our timeshare on VA before dark. The check in process was a bit hectic since this resort had over 2,000 units but all things considered, we were in our unit and unpacking by 7:00. A hastily ordered pizza arrived by 8:15 and we were happy campers.

Our one good day, Monday, was spent finding our way around the resort, affecting repairs to the camper since it became all too apparent on the way down our camper’s slide out wouldn’t. Before we left NH Carl thought the motor was the problem but it turned out to be a bent metal tube in the sliding mechanism. We found a fabrication shop to cut off the bent part and drill new holes for the bolts. $5.00 later and we were back in business. Lunch was at Golden Coral which is an awesome place if you have will power. You can also go way overboard. We were strong!

Tuesday and Thursday were very windy and it rained a good part of both days so we chose Wednesday to find something to do. I had quite a list of places to check out so we began with number one, the 3 Brothers Brewery which was closed and wouldn‘t be open until Saturday. Our next stop was the Lavender Farm where the lavender didn’t bloom until June. Stop number three consisted of the Cross Bones Winery and although their showroom was open, the vines were still very much dormant. We did do a wine tasting and came away with another bottle of wine I will want to save because I won’t get another bottle any time soon. Then it was off to Luray Caverns which is probably the 2nd best known underground adventure after Carlsbad Caverns.

And each day I would check the “Bloom Watch” website for the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC to find out how close we were to peak viewing. All indications were pointing to April 11-14. It was looking favorable for us to take a side trip on our way to Assateague Island National Seashore. Since our plans are always fluid, we chose to leave Massanutten Resort a day early.

Upcoming Show Schedule

     I'm never sure where the time goes but I see by my previous post it's been a while since I made one. So much for making promises and keeping them. This is why I gave up on making New Year's resolutions years ago. In fact, the only one I ever kept was to never make another one.
     All this aside, I do have a few shows coming up, not as many as other years but I still need to keep the exposure up for my work. So, following is a partial list of where I'll be and when:

July 18-20, 2014 : Yarmouth Clam Festival Art Show on the Merrill Library Lawn, Yarmouth, ME.
July 23-27, 2014 : North Haverhill Fair, Grafton County, North Haverhill, NH
Aug 9-10, 2014 :  Village Shops & Town Green Fair, Lincoln, NH
Aug 23-24, 2014 : Lakes region 35th Annual Fine Arts and Craft Festival, Meredith, NH
Sept 6-7, 2014 : Fall Apple County Craft Fair, St Peter's Episcopal Church, Londonderry, NH

   
There are more dates pending but I hope this sneak peak will get your artistic juices flowing. And I truly hope I'll see some of you at one of these events.

Saying Goodbye

This is just a notice to all friends and family who didn’t receive any post cards from Carl and I during the month we’ve been camp hosting here in MD. I don’t want you to feel left out. We didn’t send any cards to anyone so, you see, I didn’t forget you. And now it’s time to say farewell to all the things we love about Assateague. Goodbye to the Decatur Diner with all of it’s menu items which are large enough to serve two, each entrée with home made potato chips. And goodbye to the Dumser’s Ice Cream Stand where they make 15 flavors on site, each even tastier than the one previously enjoyed. And goodbye to countless pizza places, all making thin crust pies and some even fired in real brick ovens. I must say goodbye to the dozens of White Tail and Sika Deer who have given us hours of pleasure as we’ve watched them browse throughout the campground. A fond farewell to the hundreds of rabbits hopping in and out of the bushes along the sides of the road, some have even played tag with our golf cart.

It’s been a pleasure to spend an entire month in one location. We can comfortably find the locations of    Laundromats, barbers, liquor stores, the tastiest restaurants, seafood markets and even the local Wal-Mart. Gas stations, Arby’s, RV Repair shops and a dozen or so “Sun-sation” locations where they sell super cheap souvenirs of Ocean City made in China and even cheaper made tee-shirts made in Sri Lanka or Pakistan are now common stops. We haven’t left yet and I’m already looking ahead to when we can return.

Sadly, this means I also have to say goodbye to the resident bands of horses we’ve had the pleasure to observe during the month. There’s the chestnut stallion and his 3 mares that call the Bayside campground  and surrounding marsh home. We’ve also watched a beautiful sorrel stallion, 2 chestnut mares, 1 bay mare and one of my favorite brown and white pinto mares, with a waving flag on her left side, who roam near the Over Sand Vehicle Path at the end of the paved roads. It’s been fun to keep our eye on a solitary bay stallion trying to stay out of trouble while actually squatting on the border belonging to the two dominant stallions and their mares. In time, he’ll mature, steal a mare or two and fight to carve out a piece of the island to call his own. A small territory near the ranger’s station has been claimed by a chestnut stallion and mare. The marshy area that includes the state park campground is grazed by a bay and white pinto stallion with a map of Georgia on his left side, 3 chestnut mares and that darling 5 month old tri colored filly. If it were possible, I would have followed her all day long. I’m really looking forward to watching her as she matures. And finally, grazing rights just before the Verrazano Bridge belong to a beautiful chestnut stallion, a brown and white mare and a white and brown two year old. Last year we watched this same youngster sitting like a puppy dog while the rest of the band munched on marsh grass in the afternoon sunlight.

And last but by no means least, we have to say so long to the staff of Assateague Island National Seashore Park Rangers who were very tolerant of us beginners. We hope to see you next year, Dick, Ethan, Mike and Cari. Gee, I hope I haven’t forgotten anyone.

Things We Did

Lists Of Things We Did This Week: Chased campers off their sites after checkout time, reminded campers to watch their fires during high winds, Insisted campers go register, told campers to restrict tents to the proper number per site-3, warned campers about improper storage of food and how destructive horses can be, informed campers these horses are still wild in spite their being more or less tolerant of our presence, yelled at idiots to roll up their vehicle windows while horses are attempting to reach in to search for food, policed the roadways convincing motorists to pull out of the lane of travel while snapping photos of wild horses, collected abandoned firewood from vacant sites in hopes we will have at least one campfire before we go home, laundry and dishes as needed, dug a few mussels to have with our stuffed shells and contributed to the dietary needs of the Rangers by leaving them a ½ pound of Harman’s Really Aged Cheddar and a stick of Ridgeway Venison Sausage with Jalapeño and Cheddar. They enjoyed the gesture and I’m hoping for a few more mail order customers.

Things We Didn’t Do This Week: Kayak around the island due to high winds, have 2 consecutive days without rain, fish because the water temperature is still too cold, travel over the sand to the VA line and have that camp fire to roast hot dogs ( the only thing I’ve really wanted to do.)

Campground Life

April 18, 2014

On Thursday, we had the morning shift for both campgrounds. Our golf cart allows us to travel easily through all three loops of Bayside and two loops of Oceanside. What it doesn’t do is help us to patrol the 60 plus walk in sites sprinkled throughout the dunes. That takes endurance and a good sense of direction which is where Carl and I make a pretty good team. His endurance walking in deep sand and my general ability to read a map kept up heading in the right direction. Carl thought since we were headed out there to make sure certain sites had been vacated, we should check on people and their sites in general. This made us late for turning our morning paperwork over to the noon shift and the exertion in the sand cause my blood sugar to plummet.

Today there was a bit of excitement in Bayside Campground. Some of you may have heard about “bear jams” in Yellowstone and other National Parks. We are subject to “horse jams” here at Assateague. All it takes is 4 horses grazing and a few people in cars to notice. Before we knew it, we had about 15 cars parked all over the place, people getting way too close and horses mooching from picnic tables where families were having lunch just moments earlier. Carl headed out to help with people control while I went in a different direction to answer questions, get cars off the grass and keep my eye on the feisty stallion and his mares. I even had to order a guy to roll up his windows because one of the horses was checking out his seat cushions. Or perhaps he was looking for an afternoon snack. Eventually the horses drifted out into the marsh and the crowd slowly broke up. All that’s left now is a bit of excitement between us camp hosts.

The photo is of Bottle Trees taken on the way to Chincoteague Wildlife Refuge.