Yikes I Was There and There Was a Bear

Well today, being bored at work, I went to CNN's website, one of the few the neonazis haven't blocked and read about those poor people who were mauled by that bear.  Last summer I had a close encounter with a bear, not five miles from that campground.

Tommy and I had cruised the campground, thought it looked great, and decided to go fishing first and then come back and get a site.  We found a place to park and hiked in to the river.  When I say river, I'm talking about something maybe 30 feet across.  Tommy was having his usual wonderful luck and I was having my usual hideous luck.  This one fish would come up grab the fly and spit it out. You could almost hear him going, Phytht, Yuck, Gross, Bleach." I was tying on what felt like my fiftieth fly when I just happened to look up. Right across the stream, river, whatever was a black bear and he was looking at me. 

Now I would love to tell you, it was a monster bear, huge and growling, but it wasn't . It was a small bear maybe two years old or so, and he was studying me, almost as if he were thinking, "Now what did mother tell me about those creatures? Do I eat them or run away?

"Bear," I shrieked. Bear, Tommy there's a bear. Tommy who was busy revelling in his wonderful luck did not pay attention until I I finally said ,"Expletive deleted, Tommy look up there's a bear.  By now I was hyperventilating and getting ready to take off.  Mr. Calm gets out his bear spray and starts packing up his gear.  Meanwhile, the bear is paying strict attention to us and following us on his side as we start to move away.  He followed us for maybe 100 yards until we came to a small stream that we had to cross to get to the car. He then sat down and watched as we crossed the stream and headed out of sight.

I told Tommy, in no uncertain terms, if he wanted to camp in this bear infested area, he could; but I was spending the night in Cooke City. We stayed in Cooke City

Jane Wayne or Madame Toad's Wild Ride

So here I am in Monument Valley.  The stomach part of my flu is over, I haven't started coughing yet, and my fever was down to the point I thought it was over.   So not being in my right mind, I decided to go on a two hour ride through monument valley. For about an hour and half my Navaho guide and I plodded along while he told me about every rock, stick and insect we saw.   Fascinating stuff, let me tell you.

After our second break, my fever must have come back, because I had lost the fear that's been my constant companion since the accident.  So I asked if he could lower my stirrups and could we go a little faster? As you can imagine, he jumped at the suggestion.

"Just a little trotting," he suggested.

"Sounds like a plan," I responded.

Well, I don't know what you call trotting out west, back east we call what we did a fast canter, which then progressed to a hand gallup and then we flat out galluped all the way back to the corral.  I have never in my entire life ridden that fast. But a strange thing happened during our wild ride, I lost the fear, hopefully for good. I need to work on balance, but I'm back in the saddle again.

Oh yes, this was the mustang that I rode.

YeeHA, call me Jane Wayne

A Very Pleasant Surprise

I had a very pleasant surprise yesterday. I went to check on things at flickr and found that this picture had been named as a picture of the year and placed in a moderator's hall of fame. Since I haven't really been paying a great deal of attention to my flickr account I failed to notice that it had also been named a photo of the month. I'm going to start paying more attention, big time.

A Series of Unfortunate Events - The Prelude

I'm good at giving animals shots. No, I'm not a nurse, but I know how to do it and I'm good at it. My next door neighbor had a diabetic cat and when they went away, I came over every day, fed him, cleaned his litter box and gave him a shot. Well for reasons known only to Mr. Kitty on this day, he didn't want to get his shot.  I got him up on the table, gave him a pat, pinched his skin and, he swiveled around and bit me, really badly. I started to bleed all over everywhere, which, I, in my ignorance decided was a good thing. I got the bleeding under control, smacked Mr. Kitty, gave him his shot and went home.  We were going out to dinner with friends that night, so I cleaned it with antibac soap, poured hydrogen peroxide over it, bandaged it, and didn't give it another thought.

The next morning, I'm sitting photoediting a wedding and I peal off the bandage.  The wound is red and swollen.  This does not look good, but I think to myself, if worse comes to worse, I'll just go to the ER Monday morning.  I continue editing. Two hours later, I look at my hand and I have red streaks running up to my wrist. UhOh, this does not look good. So Tommy takes me to the Johns Hopkins local urgent care.  The doc looks at me and prescribes, superstrong penicillin.  I tell him I can't take that because I'm allergic to penicillin. He says and I quote, "If you don't want to lose that arm, which you could very easily do, you will take this medicine." Ms. Adams, you have blood poisoning." If you are not much better in twelve hours I am admitting you and if you don't respond to intravenous antibiotics, you will have to lose the arm if you want to live." Well I took the pills and I had made enough progress that I didn't have to be admitted.  Only trouble was the pills made me goofy.

So one nice day when I was driving home from work, I stopped at a red light.  My passengerside window was open, which it generally never is, and a young man came up reached in and stole my pocketbook.   He then sold my identity. He and the buyer were enventually found and sent to jail, but it did not make for a fun summer/fall. It was all sorted out, Citibank was wonderful.  But let me tell you it was no fun.  The bad check collection calls were my favorite.  That and the fertility treatments the buyers girlfriend helped herself to. Anyway that's how my identity was stolen and that's why for two months I started smoking again.

If it ever gets below 90, I have some women lined up to illustrate how to look good on or with your horse when you're over thirty.  Tomorrow it's going to feel like 110, 90% humidity and code red air.  I'm going to have to have the hose discussion with Kitt before I turn her out. She can't get overheated.  After I hose her down, I think I'll hose myself.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

About six years ago I experienced a series of unfortunate events.  My identity was stolen, my favorite cat had cancer and was chosen for an experimental veterinary protical, that meant that I had to dispense medicine that he didn't like and fought three times a day, and my perfect partner trail horse repeatedly tossed me.  I was a wreck. So, I started smoking.  I had quit fifteen years before, but life got so evil, I restarted.

Well that lasted for about a month and I decided that this was really stupid, so I'd quit with nicotine gum. It worked.  It worked so well, that up until I got sick on our vacation I was still chewing it. I have been given an enormous amount of grief over the nicotine gum from my husband, my mother, my niece (goddaughter), and my friends.  So I decided that since I was sick, I'd might as well be really sick so I stopped chewing it and started chewing, chewing gum. 

I have gained ten pounds.  I lied to myself and said why did this happen when I'm not doing anything differently.  Well today I got why it happened.  First, it's been to hot to exercise (ride, walk).  And I went out to lunch with some good friends.  We had Greek salads with steak.  In the past, I would have finished my salad and popped a piece of gum in my mouth and that would have been the end of it. Today, I asked the waiter if there was any bread and then proceeded to chomp down three pita triangles. I can't eat and not excercise. God at this rate, they can fly me over the football stadium as the Goodyear Blimp;.

Hello, It's Hot Here, Too

Not being one to complain, oh wait, is that thunder I hear.  Well maybe somebody who only whines on Wednesdays.  All right, whiners are us.  But it's hot, horrible and I hate it. It's the bad air more than anything else. I'm just putting my two overheated cents in, the heat seems to be across the country,

I'll have to take that test.  I'm reading Ride the Right Horse and Miss Kitt is social, passive (she was more aggressive when she was younger, but then weren't we all) and lazy.  But she's a sweetpea and I'm hoping for a social baby.

Well, I'm going to turn the air down to 65, open up the freezer door and crawl in.

In Which We Started Training

Don't you just love the "oh puleeze" look. This is the mommy horse Miss Kitt and this is her usual, typical reaction to training.  After we get the "look"  she always does what's asked of her.   Now depending on what she's been asked to do, she will either get over it and be her sweet snugly self, or she will act like you've broken her heart, hurt her feelings, etc. .  And I know I shouldn't laugh but I do. (Oh yes that's not me, that's trainer extraordinaire, Nina.)

So since we're having a foal and since the foal has to be trained, and I have to do the training.  I'm practicing on Kitt and I decided it was never to soon to start.  There's just one thing, it's 97 degrees, with 90% humidity, low barometric pressure and bad air.  So that's sort of limits things.  I decided we'd work on getting a bath, which Kitt just hates.  So we get to the bathing area, she sees the hose, starts her squirming away two step, I give her a good yank on the lead line, tell her in no uncertain terms that she is so getting the bath and then she stood still, like the good trouper she is, let me bath her scrape her and spray her with fly spray.  I unhooked the lead line at the same time one of the women from the barn was leading her horse to the mare field. I swear to God, she put her nose in the air, refused to look at me and followed the mare into the field. I trotted after them and looked at Kitt who had scooted into the run in shed.  She looked at me, like "how could you," And unfortunately, I guess, I just laughed and said Pussy Cat Horse, you know I love you but we've got be up to speed with this training thing before the baby gets here.

I know that a lot of you are going to think she doesn't respect me. Well maybe she doesn't but she does love me, she puts her head out of the stall, in the summer when she hears my car, and in the winter, she's right up at the fence when I come to get her. I'll keep you posted on my training.  Oh yes, we've done all of this before, so none of it should come as a shock to her.

I decided to leave you with something pretty.

They're Being Draconian at Work, I have Fawns and This and That

Well, shoot. They're being draconian at work.  I am not allowed on to blogger or flickr. Yuck. So I may not comment right away.  I will always comment, but there will be a delay.

Next, my Pammy has had twin fawns. She comes when I call her and she's not afraid of me. I feel honored. I hope she's afraid of other people and I don't know if I've done the right thing or not. But her trust means so much.

Now, all of you out west need to understand that there are a ton of tree hugging morons back east. I have been banned from some very elite groups on Flickr.  Why.  Because I had the nerve to say that hunting was better than starvation or having your throat torn out as an adult, by a wolf; or as a fawn by a coyote. I can't even believe the firestorm that I set off.  I am sadder but wiser now and I curb what I know to be true.  It hasn't changed the galleries that love my work, but it probably has stopped any new ones. If you want a national or international photographic career, you need to curb what you say. Oh well. Pammy's fawns are adorable and life is good.

Please Read

Well, two things  happened almost simultaneously.  When I'm not out shooting weddings and horse and rider glamour shots, I work in a hospital. Here's the cheery news I got to read: On a test of the umbilical cords of babies born in upscale hospitals, when tested they found, over 400 toxic chemicals. That's right, over 400.  The good old US of A has one of the highest cancer rates and rates of ADHD, in the world. One in one hundred children have some form of autism. The two worst offenders are and I hope I'm spelling this right, phthalates found in the fragrances in laundry detergent, body washes, softeners, lip glosses and nail polish.  The other hugey is found in plastics.  According to the President's Council on Cancer, which was set up by Regan not Obama, those two toxic chemicals are responsible for more cancers than tobacco and alcohol combined. Isn't that wonderful. The rest of the nasties are from the pesticides, growth hormones and other lovelys we eat every day.

So after I read this, I read "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" I suggest you read it. It's an eye opener.  So I decided, to eat locally.  Guys the food tastes better, much better. It's amazing. The food that's good for you actually tastes better.  However, I have to say, that when asked if I'd like to look at the animals, I said, "no."  I can't meet, pet or have anything to do with an animal I'm going to eat.  I know this is hypocritical, but that's just the way I am.

So for anyone reading this, please have fragrance free everything and as far as possible, remove plastics from your life.

Sedona Shots

Here are some of things that I found interesting to photograph in Sedona:

Sedona - Was it the Vortex or Vacation

Well here is the airport vortex.  No joke, I found it's exact location and hiked over.  The fact that it was less than 1/2 a mile from our lodge was just a coincidence.  Yep, just a coincidence.  Well I don't know whether it was vortex or not being at work, but I immediately calmed down.  It was amazing. The lodge was lovely, that's a plug for a wonderful, peaceful place to say at very reasonable prices;

I really can't say enough nice things about the place.  We were floating around the pool one afternoon when one of the guests commented on how peaceful and lovely this place was.  "Hello," answered a man from the other side of the pool, "we are 1/2 a mile from a vortex.  Of course it's peaceful. " So was it the vortex or just being away, who knows, but there was a wonderful feeling to the place, and I'm not one for deserts. I think my next post will just have some of things I thought were interesting.

It's Raining

It's raining oh jump for joy, it raining and currently the temperature is 74.  I feel like running outside like a two year old and jumping in the puddles. You have to understand, we haven't had a day of rain since May and it's been over 100 degrees.  I haven't taken any pictures, because quite frankly, the sight of all of the burned out fields is depressing.  But it's raining, today, YES

Horses Behaving Badly or Not

My girl, Kitt, loves foals. She would like to bogard every foal on the farm.  Last year, when I noticed that they weaned one of their foals, late born, too soon; I suggested that they put Kitt out there with them, which they did. So Kitt and the now yearlings and two year olds are best buds.  Kitt loves to put her face over the fence and then the yearlings, and two year olds and Kitt have a love fest.

Well, Belle who does not love foals is in the pasture, next to the yearlings and she has evil moods.  She put her head over the fence like Kitt does and the yearlings and two year old ran up to be loved. When Lexie got there first and was waiting for a mature mare to love her up, Belle wheeled around and kicked the cr**p out of her.  Lexie was so upset, she got her hooves tangled in the rope fencing and fell over.  I immediately called for help and ran over to see what I could do.

What happened next was interesting.  Lexie got up, and the group of yearlings and fellow two year olds, gathered around her. They put their necks over her and generally loved her up. Then Cala, the most feisty of the two year olds, put her head and neck over the fence. When Belle came up, Cala didn't give her a chance, she wheeled around and kicked the cr**p out of Belle. This two year old is a horse that the barn owner thinks is evil and can't be trusted or trained,  I think, if she was willing to defend a pasture mate, with the right training she can be a good horse.  All horse people please weigh in here.

PS: I am so jealous of you slip and sliders. Have the most wonderful party.

We're Having a Foal

The vet came out today and ultrasounded Miss Kitt and she's definitely pregnant. Yeeha, Yeah.  I'm saying this even though Tommy is saying, "my foal won't have any friends./ Who's going to play with my foal?"

Why won't our foal have any friends?  I'm hoping those of you who have raised foals might help me here.  OK, here's the backstory.  Kitt has lymes. Her numbers were off the charts and she tossed me, knocked me out and bucked her way back to the barn.  I should not have ridden her, but that's another post for another time. I took her to a barn where they are wonderful about giving meds.  She was pulsed on doxie for 18 months. But still her numbers were off the charts.  I love her, she's my best friend, and so selling he was not an option. I went on line and found a vitamin regimen that put the mare into permanent remission. I tried it and it worked.  My results have been so amazing, that the huge time equine vet who treats the thoroughbred racehorses and warmblood show horses is recommending this to all of his clients whose horses have lymes,.

My girl got pregnant right way and tomorrow, I'm calling my high quality vitamin supplier and getting her on mare and foal and she will have mare 14 feed for her last trimester. I expect a healthy foal. 

Why am I saying this.  The barn manager owns a warmblood mare worth $40,000. She has uterine infection issues. She has spent over $5000 on an AI procedure that did not work. I suggested she go online and find a vitamin regimen that would boost the mare's immune system to the point that it could overcome the infections. She basically told me, I'm a new age nut and there's nothing that can be done.  HELLO. I have an off the chart lymes mare who has inspired the most expensive equine vet in Maryland horse country to recommend my vitamin regimen.

Kitt knows that she is pregnant. Don't ask me or you'll think I'm a new age nut. She's so happy.  I'm so happy.  Tommy is worring himself to death about how his foal won't have any friends to play with. Stay; tuned. We're having a foal.

Happy 4th of July

It's hot. It's going to be 100 degrees and humid for the next five days. Hate it. Well when it gets that hot there's only one thing to do, go tubing at the swimming hole.  I went last weekend and it was cool and wonderful.   Tommy took a video of me scooting down the river and trust me it will never be seen on this blog.  I gave him a camera that takes underwater videos for Christmas and it has turned my sane, rational husband into Cecil B. Demented.

Today we're going to my mother-in-laws annual 4th of July cookout, but tomorrow I will be on the river.

I'm Back

I had the flu on our vacation.  My doctor told me that this is a new flu and if you got the flu shot, well, too bad for you, you're not protected. Then the flu settled in to an upper respiratory infection and then I had a really bad allergic reaction to the antibiotics, So I haven't been posting, been too sick, too exhausted, too done in to anything.  But, I'm back and you can look forward to me being my old snarky self, 

I have been keeping up with you guys. 

Maia