Saturday's ride

I went riding out at Jan's place (and adjacent properties) on Saturday morning with Al and Cheryl (Sara the mule's new owners). They wanted to take two of their horses also, and graciously asked if I'd like to ride Sara that day. Certainly! :-) She was great, of course, so calm and steady and totally unfazed by anything. And such a sweetie. They love her so much, she's really a perfect fit in their family. I hadn't ridden her since two years ago when she was living in Idaho!

Thanks Jan for the pics! :-)




I had an interesting chat with another engraver this afternoon, and he mentioned the title of this blog. Yeah... that might kinda tip things over the edge so that I really do change it, if someone who didn't know I was thinking about changing it thinks I ought to change it. I even made a pretty cool new banner for it today. Hmmmmm.....

trail ride today

I went on a nice couple-hour trail ride this morning with my friend Cheryl. It was a little toasty by the end, but much of the ride went through shady areas, so it was nice. Shylah was great. She mostly poked along bringing up the rear as always. She doesn't mind being last, but I think she minds my constantly asking her to trot and keep up. She never cares if the rider in front goes out of sight. But, as I've discovered a few times, I think she's a great deal happier in the lead because SHE gets to set the pace and not have to struggle to keep up with everyone else! So she led the way for a good part of the ride too. She's a good little trail horse once you come to terms with the fact that she moves through life at a slower speed than most. ;-) She's such a dork though, she's got this thing about walking next to the trail, not on it. Given free rein, she's always go just to one side or the other. It can be sort of annoying, if a trail has been mostly cleared of rocks, and the rocks are now alongside the trail, she'll get into all that mess and get this peeved expression like "this is too hard, I don't like this" meanwhile I'm trying to steer her into the CLEAR trail and thinking "well dummy, stay on the trail and it would be much easier!"

Wondering who that cute mule is? It's Sara!!!!! :-) It was great to hit the trail with Sara, she's just an awesome animal and totally unfazed by the world. She and Shylah even got along pretty well! Shylah can be kind of unpleasant with other critters, but they did well.

Yay!

Sara's home

To recap: Two summers ago I spent ten days with a friend in Idaho and Wyoming, and one of the highlights of the trip was the time spent with a mule named Sara. She and I just clicked, we were pals, I adored her. Fast forward two years, and due to some pretty unfortunate circumstances, Sara had to be sold. That was heart-wrenching news, and I decided that if it came down to it I'd raise the money to get her to California... she meant that much to me... but that would have been *really* difficult for me to take on another big critter.

And then I sent a letter to some family friends I've known for 20+ years, people who are big time into mules, thinking on a whim they might have connections who might be interested. And in the coolest twist of fate ever, it turned out they themselves had just started looking for a new mule.

Phone calls, planning, photos....

Sara no longer lives 900 miles away. Now she's a half mile away, in a great home with a family of wonderful kind-hearted people. I know she'll do well with them, and she's already good at the things they like to do (mountain trail rides, pack trips). I can't believe how amazingly well things work out sometimes. :-) *sniff*

Did she recognize me? Probably not, but she perked up and looked at me and brayed when I walked in their barn and called her name today. I can't take it too personally though, I had pockets full of treats! It was just so good to see her.

an incredibly happy ending!

Sara the mule is moving to Wilton! She will be about a half a mile away, with a family I have known for 25 years. They are wonderful people who have had horses and mules forever and are active with trail riding and pack trips. On a whim, lacking their email addresses and knowing they don't read this blog, I wrote them a letter and sent a photo of Sara, asking if they had any connections who might be interested, since Sara is dear to her owner and I, and we wanted to make sure she goes to a good home. Well, turns out they were looking. Not looking hard, but of the mindset that if a good one came along then they would be interested. And there was my letter and photo. Fate, I tell you.

They will pick up Sara and bring her home late next month. I don't quite have the right words to tell you how happy this makes me, how relieved I am, how completely thrilled I am that this tiny little bit of the universe dropped perfectly into place like it was meant to be. I wish my friend didn't have to sell Sara in the first place, but I cannot think of a better place for her to be.

I cried some serious tears of joy when I got the news tonight. :-)

I don't know

A few people have asked how things are going with my favorite mule, who needs a new home. The short answer I don't know. There were some leads up in that area, I don't know if any have panned out. I hope so, but I haven't heard. I appreciate all the offers to help spread the word, and if I can get Sara's owner's permission for that, then we'll do that. I mean, my own contact info isn't going to be of much help, though in the mean time please DO contact me if you just happen to be in the market for an awesome, big, sweet, well-trained, gaited mule.

Why don't I take her? Several factors. One of course is the money aspect of taking on another big critter (vet, farrier, feed), but honestly more than that it's space/setup issue. I've had three horses here before, it's a giant pain in the butt. It's well set up for two. Three's a crowd, and a lot of extra work for me. Plus I have some serious doubts that Sara would mesh well with these two mares I have. It's a strained relationship already between the two of them. But, you know if it came down to the wire that I'm a giant soft-hearted pushover who would do a massive sale of insanely deeply discounted art to raise the money for hauling. As much as I love Sara, I sincerely hope it doesn't come down to that. I hope she can find a good home up there in Wyoming. She loves the trails, she belongs up there.

The Adventure: June 29: saying goodbye

As written in my journal on the 29th, edited now with comments in parentheses:

"Today I leave. Seems weird to be packing up again, as it really does not feel like I've been here very long at all. (hopefully I did not completely drive B insane!). I am going to miss this place and the animals and the scenery and pretty much everything about it. I am so glad I came on this trip. I have had a wonderful time here and wouldn't trade that for anything. I am so hyped up about art now, I must get my art into this place. I just hope I can maintain this enthusiasm when I get back to my relatively dull existence in the sweltering valley that is Sacramento. I hope to return here some day. I have so many fond memories from this trip."

So yeah, it was hard to leave, it felt like a very short ten days. I told myself that morning that I would not cry... phsaw yeah I totally did, a lot, it was a little embarrassing. :-) I'm not good with goodbye, and for ten days that was home and family and so much fun, and it was hard to leave.

If you haven't already figured it out, I had a great time. :-) The Adventure of a lifetime, but hopefully not just once in a lifetime. Being back home has been a big adjustment for a lot of reasons. I loved it up there. I really could see myself in a place like that. I know, I know, the winter would suck, but I'd stay in and make a lot of art. Anyway I have to have something to complain about on the blog! ;-) For now, you're stuck with me whining about summer in the valley. Artistically speaking, that place and I were a perfect match, I can't stop thinking about Jackson Hole. I WILL go back. I've traveled a lot but never has a place really pulled at me like this, I can't shake it. It is hard to keep the enthusiasm when I'm here. I have a list of art pieces to create that I think would be real assets to my portfolio as far as seeking gallery representation there. I am applying to an art show that takes place there in September 2009, but it's not a show I'd have to be present for (though if I got in I'd sure as heck go see it!). I will not get into details on this now. If I could find a way to spend a long time up there, like even a whole summer, and do a string of art shows, I'd jump on that.

To my dear friend B: thank you for the Adventure. I sincerely hope I see you again some day. I hope you stay there, I'll need someone to check in on those galleries and make sure they're displaying my stuff properly. ;-) May the Force be with you, and may "four hundred children" always make you laugh. And write that book gosh darn it!!!

So long critters!

See ya Tetons!

Farewell Jackson Hole!


Such memories. :-) Happy Trails!

The Adventure: June 25: Teton Canyon ride

This one's going to have a LOT of photos! I thought about breaking this down into several posts, but I think it's a little more cohesive as one, so I'll just overwhelm you all at once.

Okay, so June 25th we got a pretty early start and drove out to Teton Canyon in the Targhee National Forest. Sara was acting odd when I was grooming her and getting her saddled, she seemed really cranky and kicking at herself even after I put on fly spray, and she kept sticking her neck out and doing "airplane ears" and making weird faces. I said I though it looked like colic but I'd never seen this facial stuff before (curling her lip back as though smelling something). I walked her a bit and she kept doing it, so I put her in a small corral there and she quickly looked like she was going to lay down so I got her out again and we traded off walking her for a good while til she felt better. So I guess mules make odd faces when they have a belly ache. Good to know. She was fine after a while.

There was a forest service truck parked in the lot too (the only other vehicle there) and B noticed a fuzzy critter underneath. Turned out to be a marmot, and not a very shy one! I'd never seen a marmot before but by the end of the trip I'd seen plenty. :-) It crawled up into the underparts of the truck and came out the wheel well.


Me and Sara, I LOVE this photo!!! (I'm the one with the sunglasses). ;-)

Saddled and ready to go!

So sit back and enjoy the ride! I'll point out a few things along the way, but note the changes in scenery: meadows, canyons, pine trees, aspens, streams, snow, etc. It was gorgeous, just absolutely stunning. I took about 150 pics. Many are scenery reference photos but for the sake of cuteness I made a point to take plenty with ears in them and that's mostly what I'll show you here. So pretty!!! (Just to note, all pics on the ride are taken on the old coolpix camera, I really just "point and shoot" and hope for the best).













We went as far as we could easily go before the trail was getting too hard to ride due to snow, and then we turned back.

Lunch break!

Amigo is good at getting himself wrapped around trees.

Sara doesn't do that.

Yeah, this totally sums up how I was feeling. "Woo hoo!" :-)

Then B disappeared with my camera and went down to the river.


And returned to find the artist lost in her own thoughts.

Back in the saddle, here's photographic proof that I rode in snow (no, I was not cold). Oh, and I removed my riding helmet for photographic purposes only!!! Not many people wear riding helmets up in that neck of the woods but I've had enough close calls I don't care to have my brains spattered about. It's terribly un-sexy, but then so are spattered brains. Sara was great, I really really liked riding her and felt like we really clicked and I felt very safe with her.


At some point B turned back and I went on ahead. Amigo was being a pain in the you know what and needed some work on separation anxiety, so Sara and I set off on our own adventure until he came back.


And it was right about here that I saw the moose. WAAAAYYY up ahead of me, crossing the trail. It was so far away I couldn't even tell if it was male or female, just looked like an enormous long-legged chocolate colored animal. It was long gone by the time I got there.

B eventually caught back up with us, though sadly by the end of the ride Amigo had thrown a shoe and was pretty sore. :-(




To quote the journal: "All in all, I'd have to say this was the best ride I have EVER been on! I wish I could do that more often, and I wish I could bring Shylah here. This IS the adventure of a lifetime and I am having a totally great time and so glad that I am here." And then I drew a big smiley face. :-)

B says that area is full of those rides. *sigh* I want to go back!

The Adventure: June 23: misadventures with clippers

June 23 was another pretty relaxed day, at least for me. ;-) Following a very early morning mule-escape, I zonked out on the couch til late morning. We went to Rexburg again in the morning to get some stuff at the feed store, and I needed a new duffel bag because mine had decided to start falling apart somewhere between Sacramento and Denver a few days earlier, and the last thing I needed was for the entire contents of my bag to fall on the floor of some airport. Back to the house for lunch, and since Sara had gotten so sweaty on Sunday's ride, B decided to clip her. Meanwhile, though a few days early I went ahead and baked birthday cake. My first attempt at high altitude baking! I used a recipe from Joy of Cooking, which was rather complex. It came out a little dry but tasted pretty good and the texture was fine.

But then, problems... This is an awkward time for one's clippers to break:

I was afraid this meant no more riding, which was tragic beyond belief.

So off we went to another feed store in Driggs (neat place, I left some of my brochures there the next day) and acquired a spiffy new clippers. So B was able to finish clipping Sara, I made dinner, and all was right in the world.

The Adventure: June 22: riding and Jackson Hole

So I was a little peeved today to find out that Photoshop CS (what I am using) does not open .NEF files, which is the raw format that my new camera uses. I had been shooting in high quality JPEG but then switched to raw. It's not a crisis, I just have to convert them all using the Nikon software, it's just a pain and takes a long time. I'm only up to the afternoon of the 26th as far as photo revision goes....

Anyway, so June 22 (good thing I kept a journal!) is where it starts getting really exciting. We went riding that morning in the barley fields behind the house. I opted not to take along my camera, since I wanted to get acquainted with Sara (the mule) first, but I should have taken it. Not that I missed anything really, but it would have been fun to take along.

So this was my first time riding a mule, and dang she's big (a little side note here, but I rode Shylah this morning (7/1) and she seemed SO small, like where's the rest of the horse, and why are her ears so small, lol). I had to be a weenie and get a little help climbing up there. Her gait is different, more of a forward and back kind of movement, but it didn't take long to get used to it. I had to establish pretty quickly who was the boss (me) but once we got that straightened out, Sara was an absolute doll, and I think she really liked me. And that was mutual. :-) I really had fun cantering her out in the fields. I didn't know what to expect but she actually had a very smooth canter and really covered some ground! I couldn't stop grinning. The colt, Smooch, went along off-lead and he looked so pretty galloping around the green fields.

It wasn't a super long ride, since Bryan had to be in Jackson Hole that afternoon for mounted patrol. At some point on the drive over there he said something about how I should not take pics of him because he didn't have the right shirt on that day. And what do I do, I take people seriously. So I snuck up behind and took a stealth shot, because I'm bad like that, but then later in the day he tells me he was just kidding and really wanted pics. Sheesh!!! ;-)

This was the only pic I took that day:

Anyway, while he was keeping the city safe (btw I think that looks super fun, I think Shylah would be great at that, don't have that in Wilton though!), I spent a few hours doing the tourist thing and seeing oodles of shops full of knick knacks and moose and bear stuff and Native American jewelry and OMG the galleries. Oooohhh the galleries. *grin* That was a big part of my wanting to make this trip was finding out if Jackson Hole and I might get along artistically, and the answer, at least from my point of view, is overwhelmingly YES. Like, if ever there was a place my art belongs, it is there. Without a doubt. I need to be there. I looked at all the galleries I could find, and some immediately struck me as not a good fit for me (not my kind of art, or just something about the place put me off, or I didn't like the layout or something, yes I'm very picky). But several, I think, are well worth applying to. I can't stop thinking about this place, and art, and it's so exciting and just this overwhelming feeling of "MUST BE THERE." Maybe not me personally, but the art for sure.

I saw some absolutely amazing art, by some really big name people. And I also saw some stuff in big-time galleries that made me think "I can do that, or better, I should be here." The prices just floored me, things priced at several times what I make in a YEAR. And I saw people in galleries buying stuff!

I belong there. I can do this. I will do this. Repeat as needed so as to not lose this feeling that I have right now. :-)

I DO need to talk to some people with more gallery experience than I have (um, none) and find out exactly how this works. And I really think it may be time to get an agent, so I'm going to email JK and LH about that and get some expert opinions. And JJ if you hear from Carol I still REALLY want to talk to her to get her inside opinion about the various galleries up there, I'm way bummed that did not work out to see her when I was up there.

There's a lot I need to think about though, regarding the art. I'll talk more about this after my next post about Jackson Hole, I think it'll be more relevant then. It was an absolute brain overload by the end of the day, in an entirely good way. I made some good contacts that day though and got some good advice as far as places that might be a fit for me, and I am grateful to the people who took the time to talk to me.

The Adventure: June 21: the local scene

Saturday the 21st was sort of a lazy day. Bryan (aka BK or B if I'm in the mood for initials) had to take the horses to the vet in the morning, so I puttered around for a while and took a few photos, and then a few more when the horses returned:

This is the view from B's back yard. Can you say OMG gorgeous? Those are the Teton mountains in the distance. B says you can ride there from his house. I am sooo envious of that. I'll post pics later on of these mountains again, the snowmelt was noticeable over the ten days I was there.


Here's Amigo, a Quarter Horse.

And here's Sara the mule and Smooch the solid colored Paint colt.

Later in the day after lunch we went driving to see some of the local scenery on the way out to Rexburg to run a few errands.

JC, this one's for you. This is Robinson Lusitanos, and there were some pretty awesome looking horses there. What a spread!

We drove into the Targhee National Forest. I am sitting here looking at the map but not entirely sure what area we were in. It's SO pretty there, and all the flowers are blooming, I really was just in awe of this place. We stopped and walked back to a lake, hoping to see some wildlife but didn't see any other than the multitude of hungry mosquitoes.

Hey look, a fence (inside joke). ;-)

A view from the walk out to the lake:

The lake, sadly devoid of mooses (this becomes a theme):

A pretty mountain view on the drive back: