Cowboy Dreams

Awhile back I wrote about giving up on my dream to become a cowboy and replacing it with the more realistic dream of becoming a better horseman (see "Changing Dreams").

However, the dream sometimes returns in the most unlikely places... such as this cartoon I ran across:


Don't you think that's me? The dream never really dies. Max, I'm ready the next time you need a header or heeler at the ranch.

Today is July 3 and if today is your Birthday then you share your day with: Tom Cruise (actor - "Mission Impossible" - and Oprah couch jumper), Montel Williams (TV talk show host and MS crusader), Tom Stoppard (playwright - "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" - I actually saw this in Boston in 1969), George M. Cohan (stage performer - "Yankee Doodle Dandy"), Jean Claude Duvalier (Haitian dictator), Jan Smithers (actress - Bailey on "WKRP in Cincinnati"), and Achilles Alferaki (composer).

Simone is Back!

Simone, our resident Roadrunner is back. She's not coming back to sleep in the stable like she did all last winter, but she's coming back on a regular basis to get drinks of water from Morgunn and Gletta's water tank.


After drinking, she hops up to the top fence rail and let's the world know she's there.


Simone is one of the many reasons we love to live in New Mexico.

Today is July 2 and if today is your Birthday you share your day with: Lindsay Lohan (actress and troubled young woman), Jose Canseco (baseball player and steroid user), Vincente Fox (President of Mexico), Richard Petty (NASCAR champion driver - "The King"), Dan Rowan (comedian - co-host of "Laugh In"), Thurgood Marshall (first black Supreme Court justice), Jerry Hall (Mrs. Mick Jagger), Dave Thomas (founder of Wendys restaurants), Walter Brennan (actor - Grandpa on "The Real McCoys"), and Valentinian III (Emperor of Rome, 425 AD).

It Happened in 1967

1967 was an interesting year. The Green Bay Packers won Super Bowl I against the Kansas City Chiefs, 35 - 10. The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Boston Red Sox in the World Series. The number 1 song for the year was "Kind of a Drag" by The Buckinghams (no, I don't remember it either). The number one movie was "The Dirty Dozen." The Academy Award for Best Picture was for "In the Heat of the Night." The most popular TV show for the year was "The Andy Griffith Show" followed closely by "The Lucy Show." Congress created the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).

More seriously, Israel won the Six-Day War and China exploded its first hydrogen bomb. Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as the first black Supreme Court justice and astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee were killed in a fire during a test in their capsule. Dr. Christian Barnard conducted the first heart transplant, but the patient died 18 days later.

The price of a first-class stamp was 5 cents and gas was about 35 cents a gallon.

More specifically, on July 1, 1967, The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" went to number one on the charts. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) conducted its first color broadcast and "Funny Girl" closed on Broadway.

Perhaps most importantly, at least for Betty and me, is we were married on July 1, 1967 at St. Bartholomews Episcopal Church in Nashville, Tennessee. We had a simple, but beautiful wedding followed by a reception in the church fellowship hall with a wedding cake, mints, peanuts, and punch. Afterwards we drove to Jekyll Island, Georgia for a week's honeymoon.


We celebrated our 41st anniversary today by going to see "WALL E' which was great and going to The Golden Corral (world's greatest pig-out place) for lunch.


Betty and I went together for six years before we were married. We met in High School when we were both sixteen (Awwwwwww). So, we've been sweethearts for 47 years.

It's been a great 41 years (plus 6)!

Today is July 1 and if today is your Birthday you share your day with: Us and our 41st anniversary, Liv Tyler (actress - "Lord of the Rings"), Pamela Anderson (actress? - "Baywatch"), Princess Diana (one-time future Queen of England), Dan Akroyd (comedian - "Saturday Night Live," "The Blues Brothers"), Jamie Farr (Klinger on M.A.S.H.), Olivia DeHavilland (actress - Melanie in "Gone With The Wind"), Charles Laughton (actor - "Hunchback of Notre Dame," and "Mutiny on tne Bounty"), and Gittfried Leibnez (German composer).

Rainbow Days

We finally had some rain late yesterday afternoon. One of the things we love about where we live is we often get great rainbows. When we have these afternoon rain storms the sun sets to the West behind our house and we face East toward the Sandia Mountains. The rain often goes up the valley between us and the mountains and, when it does, we get great rainbows.

This one was a full rainbow where we could see it all from end to end. Like this one, they often are double rainbows. I wish I had a wide-angle lens for my camera so I could catch the whole rainbow, but I don't and probably never will.

Rainbows always lift our spirits as they're a reminder of God's promises, especially the promise He made that He would no longer judge the world through floods like the one Noah and family sailed through on the ark.

In closing, let me give you an old Irish blessing:

May God give you...

For every storm a rainbow,
For every tear a smile,
For every care a promise,
And a blessing in every trial.

For every problem life sends,
A faithful friend to share,
For every sigh a sweet song,
And an answer for every prayer.

Today is June 30 and if today is your Birthday then you share your day with: Michael Phelps (Gold medal Olympic swimmer), Fantasia Barrino (2004 American Idol winner), Mike Tyson (professional boxer and famous ear biter), Harry Blackstone, Jr. (magician), Susan Hayward (actress - "Demetrius and the Gladiators"), Lena Horne (singer - "Stormy Weather"), Robert Ballard (explorer - discovered the Titanic), Dorothy Malone (actress - "Peyton Place"), and Adolf Furtwangler (German archaeologist).

When We Are Old

I modified the following poem, "When I Am Old," by an unknown author to be inclusive of both Betty and me.

"When We Are Old"

When we are old
We shall wear diamonds and wide brimmed straw hats
With silver and leather on it,
And we shall spend our Social Security
On white wine and carrots,
And sit in the alley of our stable
And listen to Gletta and Morgunn breathe.

We will sneak out
In the middle of a summer's night
And ride our Icelandic Horses
Across the moonstruck meadow
If our old bones will allow.

When people come to call we will smile and nod
As we walk them past the courtyard gardens to the stable
And show, instead, the beauty growing there
In stalls fresh with grain and hay.
We will shovel and sweat and
Wear hay in our hair as if it were a jewel.

And we will be an embarrassment to all
Who look down on us.
They've not yet found the peace in being free
To love a horse as a friend,
A friend who waits at midnight hour
With nuzzle and nicker and patient eyes
For the kind of old man and woman
We will be when we are old.

Today is June 29 and if today is your Birthday then you share your day with: Fred Gandy (actor - Gopher on "The Love Boat"), Richard Lewis (comedian), Gary Busey (actor - "The Buddy Holly Story"), Slim Pickens (actor - "Dr. Strangelove"), Little Eva (singer - "Locomotion"), and Ray Harryhausen (stop motion artist - "Clash of Titans").

Happy Birthday Morgunn!

On June 28, 1999, an Icelandic colt was born in Corrales, New Mexico and he was given the name "Morgunn" which is Icelandic for "Morning." His owner was a woman named Mary Ross.

This is a picture of the brand new Morgunn shortly after he was born. The person in the picture is our good friend Eleanor Bravo who rode with us in the Bosque yesterday.

In 1999, Betty and I were still living in Loveland, Ohio and I was still working for Procter & Gamble. We were just beginning to think about retiring in a year or so. Little did we know that an event across the nation in New Mexico was happening that would eventually have such an impact on my life.

When we moved to New Mexico in 2004, we were serious about getting our own horses, but we decided to wait a year to be sure we knew what we were getting into. Through a trainer friend, we actually met Morgunn and rode him a couple of times, but he wasn't for sale.

On June 30, 2005, our trainer friend called and said he had just talked to Morgunn's owner, Mary, and she tearfully said that she needed to thin her herd down from 4 horses to 2. She didn't have the time to give them the work and attention they all needed. So, she wanted to sell Morgunn and his younger brother, Digger. Morgunn had just turned six years old.

We called Mary and immediately went over to see her. The next day, July 1, 2005 (which was our 38th wedding anniversary) Morgunn joined our family and my life has never been the same. Here's a picture of Morgunn on the day we bought him.

So, Morgunn, on your 9th birthday here are some of my favorite pictures among many that we have taken over the last 3 years.

Morgunn's personality is very, very friendly and he loves to check out whatever is going on.


Morgunn's favorite past time is eating and he's always in his stall waiting impatiently.


He often tells Betty, "What took you so long to bring my food?"


As we've shared before, he loves to supervise whenever we're clipping Gletta - "I think you missed a spot. Yep, I'm pretty sure you did. Hey, are you listening to me?"


I'm glad we don't get much snow, but I think Morgunn would love more. I guess it's his Icelandic genes.


Other than eating, he loves to be out riding with his best friend, Gletta.

So, Morgunn, on your 9th birthday we all wish you a Happy Birthday! Maybe I'll peel a carrot as a special treat for you today.


Today is June 28 and if today is your Birthday then you share your day with: Morgunn (wonder horse and all around great companion), John Cusack (actor), John Elway (Denver Broncos Super Bowl Champion quarterback), Gilda Radner (comedian - "Saturday Night Live"), Pat Morita (actor - "Karate Kid"), Mel Brooks (comedian/director - "Blazing Saddles," "Space Balls," "Young Frankenstein"), Richard Rodgers (composer), and John Wesley (English clergyman and founder of Methodism).

Bosque Ride

Today was another first for us since Betty's accident almost 7 months ago. We trailered Morgunn and Gletta down to our good friend Eleanor's house where we joined her and her Icelandic Horse. We rode down into the Bosque, the woods along the Rio Grande River. The morning was cooler than it has been so it was a delightful ride. We even tolted several times through the woods which was great fun.


Here are a few pictures from our ride this morning.

The view of the trail ahead through Morgunn's alert ears.

A quick picture back behind me at Betty and Eleanor.

A very nicely posed picture of Betty and me by Eleanor who is an excellent photographer.

It was a great ride and another good confidence booster for Betty on Gletta. She's doing great and is really focusing on becoming a much better rider than she's ever been.

On the ride home as we turned onto our street we saw a Quail mother or father with some of her or his newly hatched chicks. There were more than these two, but they had already run into the sage...

One, two three... "Awwwwwwwwwww, how cute!"

Today is June 27 and if today is your Birthday then you share your day with: Tobey Maguire (actor - "Spiderman"), H. Ross Perot (millionaire with big ears who ran for President), Bob Keeshan (Captain Kangroo and Clarabelle the Clown on "The Howdy Doody Show"), Helen Keller (deaf and blind - became influential person - protrayed in the movie "The Miracle Worker"), Trisha Yearwood (country singer), and Charles IX and Louis XII (both Kings of France).