Gorgeous sunset

Here's what the sunset looked like from my front yard on Wednesday, Nov. 11. It seems like the sky is on fire.

Today I did a groundwork training session with my Appy mare, Sailor. She did really well - and so did I! This is our third session within the last week, and I push her a little farther each time. It's been a while since I trained her all by myself, so it's a confidence builder for me too. She is so bright, she remembers mostly everything. But she is not a confident horse, so I have to work on inspiring her to have confidence in me. If I can conquer that, I believe I will be able to ride her again. She is a horse who wants a strong leader, and I have to prove to her that I am that person. When she believes in her leader, she is a wonderful horse to ride.

Catching up

Well, it's been a long time since I last posted on this blog. Life has been eventful, although not in a great way. On October 16, I was notified at work that my position was being eliminated, and therefore they did not need me anymore. Of course nothing could be further from the truth - there was still plenty of work that needed to be done (with a full slate of events). The real situation was that the guy who was brought in to be "Community Connection Coordinator" (a made-up title to create a job for this loser) was threatened by the fact that I knew he was a fraud whose M.O. was to do NO work. To cover up for his lack of doing anything that resembled work, when the s**t hit the fan, he would throw the blame on me. Needless to say, I would not stand for this, and immediately notified the general manager that this guy was lying and what the real truth was. The bad news for me, was that while the rest of the staff knew this guy was bogus, the G.M. thinks he walks on water. So I became a liability to the Mr. Work Avoider, and a major threat to him. In addition, he has worked there before, and I had already been told that he will want an assistant - a much younger, cute assistant - preferrably under 25 years old. So I certainly didn't fit the bill. I was forced out, given severance pay, and sent on my way without even being able to say goodbye to any of my coworkers. It was a shameful and disgusting way to treat someone who gave 110% every day for three years. I won't be going to the Northshire Bookstore again for any time in the future.

In other not-great news, I didn't win the election for the Town Council seat. I worked my tail off campaigning, going door to door to 1,000s of homes. Unfortunately, being a Democrat in a Republican town was a huge disadvantage, combined with the fact that I have only lived here for 4 years. In a small town, I was viewed suspiciously. The really irritating thing is that of the 2 guys who got elected, one did absolutely no campaigning, and his entire platform was that he has lived in the town all his life. I don't know him, but I've been told that he is a slacker who can't hold a job and is very lazy. Oh well. On the plus side, I made a lot of new friends and had a wonderful group of supporters who worked very hard for me. So all in all, it was a great experience.

A few days before the election I was asked to stand in for our county Democratic chair at an informal meet and greet with NY Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. It was a thrill to meet her, and get my photo taken with her. She's a real fireball, and a nice person. Here we are at a restaurant in Queensbury, NY.

Busy Busy

Even though I'm on vacation, life has accelerated for me as my campaign for Town Council kicks into high gear. Last night I had to forgo my riding lesson to attend an interview with the local Labor Council. It was a grueling interview in front of about 8 union presidents. I thought I was going to a social "meet and greet" so was unprepared for this. The other candidates ahead of me made formal presentations, and I was totally unprepared. What a nightmare. I was grilled about my beliefs about unions and organizing. When it was over, I thought I would never get endorsed. But I got called by the Council president today, who said I was unanimously endorsed. So I must have done something right.

Tomorrow I go door to door on my street to say hi and let the neighbors know I'm running. I wave to my horses in my travels, and hope to ride again soon.

Two healthy cats at once

After a week of giving Freya (the cat) two different medications (a feat I somehow accomplished) she recovered from her illness. She did have a "set back" day in the middle of the med course, but regrouped and ended up recovering nicely. So for a change, I have two healthy cats at once. Let's hope it lasts.

The horses are doing well. Tomorrow night my instructor is coming, and we may saddle Sailor to see what she thinks of riding after being off for a year. Her groundwork manners are much improved, so maybe it will translate to being better behaved with a rider in the saddle.

My campaign for Town Council is moving into high gear. I have my brochure, and signs are ordered. This weekend we should start going door to door, the key to getting elected. I'll be working with our town supervisor, who won 2 years ago just by getting out and meeting people. I'm going to be very busy, but somehow I'll get through, as always. Here's the link to my campaign blog.

The summer of sick cats

It seems we can't have both of our cats heathly at the same time. Now it's Freya's turn to be sick. She's been out of sorts for about a week, and vomited a couple days ago. Then she perked up, so I thought she had just eaten something outside that needed to come out. Then she started with this congested cough, and yesterday morning instead of eating or asking to go out she just laid there. So it was back to the vet's (I must keep them in business). She had a fever about 103, and her throat was filled with congestion. She kept making these exaggerated swallowing motions, and would sometimes cough. The vet said they have seen many cats come in with the same symptoms, and they don't know if it's a virus or something outside the cats are eating (all the cats that have come in are outdoor cats). With the insane amount of rain we've gotten this year, some new kind of plant might be around. It takes almost 2 weeks for the cats to get better, she said. Freya got 2 shots (antibiotic and something to relieve the congestion) and we have to give her prednisone and a fiber capsule to clean out her system. That is loads of fun! Today she is coughing periodically, but is much more active and is eating. So it's good to see her doing better. Meanwhile, Lacey is out running the fields or whatever she does out there. Good thing I have a job to pay my vet bills.

What a turkey!

We have a large flock of turkeys living in the woods behind my house. There are 3 adult females and 15 babies. They have been hanging around the horse paddocks (they eat manure, I'm told), but the other day, one brave female came up right behind the house. I looked out the window and first saw my cat Lacey, laying down very flat in the grass. I couldn't imagine what she was doing, and then I saw the turkey walking by, doing her turkey walk very slowly. The tip of Lacey's tale was twitching, and I yelled through the window to try and get her attention, so she wouldn't attack the bird. Then the turkey walked under the fence and down into the paddock. Talk about a strange encounter!

Nice day!

After yesterday's torrential rains, it's so nice to have a sunny and clear day. It's official - our area got so much rain in July, it set a record. In the 183 years of weather record-keeping, July 2009 is the rainiest. What is going on? I guess that's what global warming means for the northeast - getting drowned out.

This afternoon JD and I went across the border to a little town in Vermont, where a fundraiser was being held for a soon to open hospice house in my town. They had a great crowd. It was classic Americana: the grounds of this organization (Woodmen of something or other)has a cute bandstand, and there was a choral group singing songs like Amazing Grace. A local community band (which was very good) followed. We had a barbecue chicken dinner prepared by the local Fish & Game Club. There were little kids playing in the grass, and it was just lovely. I felt like I had stepped back in time 100 years. And all for a very good cause. The hospice house will open in September, and I'm planning to buy something for it. They're registered at Target! So it's easy to see what is needed, and there are items in every price range.

Tomorrow I'm going with my new riding instructor to look at a horse that I looked at last year. It's a long trip - almost 2 hours - for us to drive to the Chatham, NY area. But this horse, a nice 6 year old reg. QH gelding, is now free to a good home. He's a little big for me, and a little too energetic, but he's very willing and I think would be a good lesson horse for my instructor to have at her facility. And he would get a good home. It looks like we'll be driving in the rain - once again - but we'll survive. The area we're going to had catastrophic flooding the other day, after it got 5" of rain. It will be interesting to see the conditions there. I'll get to see my friend Cheryl, who I have not seen in months. So I'm looking forward to a good trip.