CHRISTINA'S WORLD

A few years ago I made pilgrimage to Cushing, Maine to, among other things, see the place made famous by a great American, Andrew Wyeth.

His death last January marked the passing of one of the great U.S. artists of the twentieth century.

"Christina's World" is one of his best known works.

This is the location as I saw it during my visit.

Wyeth made many paintings in and around the Olsen house. This one is called, "Weatherside."

  That angle of the house as I saw it.

CHRISTINA’S
 A clapboard house that smelled of mold and oldness.
Walls damp and musty leaned against the ceiling.
A door fastened to hold in old dreams.
Ancient lilacs grew toward the ragged roof.
A pebble path led through a patchy yard.
Sea sounds hissed through the air.

  Can't visit Maine without taking on a lobster!

PRETTY LITTLE HORSES

I’ve always loved horses. I rode horses as a kid on the farm. Not fancy horses. One was so fat he was like riding the sofa. My short legs meant the horse had to be standing by something I could use to boost myself up, even when there was a saddle involved.
Owning a horse is expensive. Grazing land, barn, feed, water, tack, vet bills and transportation must be added to the initial expense of the animal. Not to mention the daily maintenance. So now I just look at horses.

Not far from our house in most directions are pastures full of horses. In one specific field there are new babies.

They are all Appaloosa foals. The American Appaloosa traces its roots back to Spanish stock that became prized by the Nez Perce Indian tribe of what is now northern Idaho.
The Indians bred the horses for endurance, short mane and tail for traveling in high brush, and good temper.
Then, of course, there are the markings.

The coat is spotted in one of several specific patterns from a speckled white rump to being mottled all over.
Idaho officially adopted the Appaloosa as the state horse in 1975.
Pretty little horses.

WET WEATHER

Our part of the world has been rained on almost every day for weeks.

The columbines in my garden have thrived; even to the point of becoming giant weeds. They have overpowered some smaller plants and almost hidden the bird bath. The pounding rain has left some flowers bedraggled. Others just soak it up. The wheat fields are doing okay. The potato fields are not. Things are green, but muddy, muddy, muddy.

STUFF I'VE LEARNED part 4

My Linkwithin widget at the end of my last post reminded me I had not added to my Stuff I’ve Learned postings since last December. So here is the next installment of my list of valuable information I usually learned the hard way. As I said with Part One of this inventory, “Some mistakes are too fun to only make once, there are others that are best not repeated…As you can guess there is a good story to go with some of them.” *Hot glass looks the same as cold glass. * Even the worst haircut eventually grows out. *The photos of your stylish hairdo and clothes will be a source of embarrassment in ten years or less. *Faith is built of two basic elements: knowledge and trust. The more you understand through study, the more you can trust. The stronger your understanding and trust, the greater your faith. *Always search the pockets before washing the clothes. *If you are going to stir up the piss ants don’t stand in their nest. *When living several thousand feet above sea level, it is wise to point a sealed container away from you when opening. *When a lady squats in the woods she should aim downhill so her shoes don’t get wet. *Don’t believe everything you think. *When someone gets mad and asks, “Do I look stupid?” don’t answer. *When you put on a hooded sweatshirt backwards you go blind. *Instead of being annoyed because the toilet seat is not put back down, I should be glad it was lifted up. *When your husband is watching television in the other room and you don’t hear the channel change in over five minutes—he is asleep.