Solo Mission

 Saturday’s ride turned out to be a solo mission - I had offered a ride to the nice young man at my PT place (Stretch Zone); one thing after another has kept me from getting him into the saddle! This time he had 2 bad tires - but when I texted Sam relating these facts, he misunderstood & thought **I** had tire trouble! So he passed word down the line & everyone else canceled also (well, it was only Sharon & she was having a hell of a time catching her horse)

Anyway, Baraq had been first in line at the gate Saturday morning, nickering at me hopefully - “Mom, is it my turn to go places??” So it was very pleasant to have a relaxing Mommy & Me Day - I put Baraq in his brisk 4.5 MPH NATRC walk, and he was not bothered by hikers, cyclists, or dogs. I told B-boy that if I could just teach him to open some gates, maybe we’d do some competitive trail events! 🤣😜

I guess I’ll take him to a Leisure ride & see if he can score a few more point than Mr Silas…

Then on Sunday I trekked over to the Ft Worth Zoo to see the baby gharials (they are the only NA zoo to successfully hatch these endangered creatures) - both the babies and the adults were so beautiful it brought tears to my eyes. I doubt my iPad will let me post any pictures this morning but I’ll try to add some later.

                  That lil' footbridge and dark bamboo tunnel was slightly intimidating!

Another Point of View

 Melanie’s account of crewing for Tevis ‘24 is another great perspective… As I recall, when I flew out to crew for Ex in ‘97, I flew into Sacramento, rented an SUV (was it a Ford Explorer? perhaps!), and drove to Auburn Fairgrounds. The routine is much the same year-to-year: we are only allowed limited camping time up at Robie Park (Lake Tahoe), so everyone caravans up there Thursday. Vet-in exams are done Friday, and The Ride commences between 5:15-30 AM Saturday morning. Crews have 4-6 hrs to pack up camp, drive rigs back to Auburn, and bounce back to the first “crew accessible” vet check at Robinson Flat, approx 36 mi into the ride. Since the trail traverses protected wilderness areas, there are only 4 checkpoints where crew is admitted: Robinson Flat (36 mi), Chicken Hawk (64 mi), Foresthill (68 mi), and Francisco’s (85 mi). Crewing involved long periods of waiting, sandwiched between short periods of intense activity. While a good crew is invaluable, by & large I’d rather be riding 😊

Melanie Martin is with Jonni Jewell and 

4 others

.

1h  · 

Tevis 2024. I've got some recovery time on my hands so here goes....

I was back at Tevis to crew for Gayle Muench and Henry (Rohara Hasanni). This was my 2nd time to crew this horse and my 4th time to crew for Gayle. Additionally, Jonni Jewel was camped with us at Auburn, and would be using our rig to camp at Robie (the start) and crew from in Foresthill.

I arrived on Wed and have discovered that this is the only arrival date that works for me. I need Thursday to settle in and 2 nights rest on California time before Friday night which involves very little sleep.

I love camping at Robie and assisting the riders overnight and at the start. A smooth, stress free start is very important. Taking the rig back to Foresthill alone gives me a lot of time to think about the day and night ahead.

Every year I have to "get creative" to find a ride from Foresthill up to Robinson Flat for the first check. Gayle always has Fran [his wife] and Helen in Robinson, so if I don't make it's no problem, but with 10 hours to kill before I see Gayle at Chicken Hawk, I much prefer to hussle a ride to Robinson. This year I hadn't even got the rig parked before I encountered an old friend Chetta Crowley. She immediately offered a spot in their caravan up to Robinson. Awesome! I had a great time visiting with Joe. (Unfortunately I didn't get his last name) He and his wife (who was riding) were at Tevis for the first time. We discussed the team effort at Tevis and how everyone pulls together for the hoped success of horse and rider. He was very impressed by [the] harrowing drive up to Robinson.

At Robinson I had the honor to crew for Gayle and Jonni Jewell. They were just over an hour apart which makes for perfect timing crew wise. Henry was bright and happy. He ate well from every forage and concentrate offered. Jonni and Hondo came in shortly after Gayle left. I enjoyed learning Jonni's management style and how she handles the ride. She had a wonderful crew led by Sara Anderson. All riders have different priorities for how to handle themselves, the horse and trail. Hondo was very chill and chowed down.

I had some concerns about the lack of shade for the riders in the canyons due to a fire wiping out most of the trees. The year prior the riders got to the canyons earlier in the day due to the Soda Springs start. I went to Chicken Hawk while Helen went to Michigan bluff. She brought a cold drink for Galye as we had a feeling he would be out of water or at minimum ready for some sort of boost for the push to Chicken Hawk.

At Chicken Hawk we pulled the saddle to help Henry cool down and he vetted through without issue. Hallelujah! I'm always extra cautious here and willing to spend any amount of time it takes, because with Foresthill just a few miles away, the horses need to vet through well at both stops or the ride is over.

Foresthill is all about rest and refuel. The horses are always tired. The riders are tired. The crew is operating on adrenaline having been awake for about 22 hours. Sometimes we sneak in a nap, but this year there was no time for that. All I think about is what the horse needs to vet through well at Franciscos and the Quarry. It is a mistake to assume that sunset means cool weather because this is not so. The horses and riders will be traveling in 80+ degree weather until 2am with higher humidity due to close proximity to the river. The horses need support metabolically to keep their hydration up and muscles as relaxed as possible.

Gayle and Jonni both finished the Tevis with healthy horses. Mixed in with all the seriousness of the ride is a lot of fun. Fran, Helen and I have a great time together. What one doesn't think of the other will. What one forgets the other remembers. When one is tired another is laughing and making coffee to get us through delirium. We extend grace to one another as we all handle the stress and exhaustion of ride day differently.

I'm grateful for the WSTF, ride management, volunteers, and vets. It's a crazy endeavor to bring the horses and riders across the Sierra in 24 hours. What an amazing opportunity that few have in life to test their fortitude!

Another Lagniappe

 (I know I’m re-using that title, but low on energy & ingenuity this AM - c’mon, coffee!)

I can tell when I’ve achieved a period of deep, high-quality sleep when I wake up slightly disoriented - it takes a few seconds as the wheels spin and I orient myself to time, place, day of the week, etc. That hasn’t been happening recently as my anxious mind frets about A through Z: gotta get the mobile unit sold to free up some cash to finish paying off my vendors & start catching up on overdue taxes - I’ve been afraid to touch base w/my accountant as those penalties & interest add up! Need to finish emptying out the storage unit - still partially filled with shelving, miscellaneous equipment, boxes of books - need to squeeze in what will fit, get rid of the surplus… Nag the X-Ray guy to bring back my machine as we continue to wait on Oncor for our power upgrade - surely there’s a workaround, even if we have to power everything else off when we need to take films! Then the final stage is setting up my surgical suite so I can sell off the surgery trailer, hopefully it will be in higher demand than the mobile unit?!?

Yet all I seem to accomplish these days is daydreaming/planning my next ride, or a meet-up with my son. Last night he granted me the lagniappe of dinner, but that was primarily because he wanted to obtain some heartworm preventative medication for his coworker. It’s all right - how does that old song go? “You Just Keep on Usin’ Me (until You Use Me Up)” Dr M & her husband are marching briskly towards another surgery for him, which is scheduled for the end of August - obviously I’ll be without help for a while; perhaps permanently if he has complications? Kristy’s mom has been in & out of hospital with her lung cancer; she should be transferred to rehab facility this week. And the visiting nurse brought up my mom’s slow insidious decline - I need to schedule a meeting with the nursing coordinator as I will probably need to hire her supplemental help.

But for now I’ve gotta just keep putting one foot in front of the other, as I finish my coffee and get ready for work.

https://youtu.be/LuzlbR5V_hc?si=a_ZBjdLb0pyOuQjJ

And Just Like That...

 I was doodling around for a few minutes while my girls were finishing up tech appointments - wanting to post my photos "for all the world to see" - pull up FB & here's a post from dear Kacy!

Kacy King

1h  · 

I know a lot of really wonderful, truly supportive people have been waiting for an update from yours truly. It’s hard to know where to begin. I’ll write what happened at the end.

Maybe I start by saying that we’re all home, being cared for by the village that is the Endurance community, and friends and family willing to travel and stay with me. I am afraid I might be getting used to someone getting me cereal (and a handful of pills) at 0400.

***

So, when you are laying on the trail, unable to move (having taken a mental scan of your body and being fairly certain there is no internal damage to organs), you have some decisions to make. I consciously decided that I would put my faith and trust in every single person that helped me get to safety, get to a hospital, and take care of me.

After I heard the crack, while I was still rolling into the crumpled position in the dirt that was to be mine for over an hour, my first thought was “who is going to take care of the animals?” A lot of us can relate. Many things overwhelmed me last week, and one of them was the number of people concerned for Chant, knowing he has special needs and how special he is to me. Also relatable, friends that said “how is Chant, where is Chant, who is taking care of Chant?”instead of how are you? I love that.

It was scary. Lying there, being transported, being put into a helicopter, going to where? Where am I? It took me a day to even know what city I was in. No clothes, no wallet. Luckily I had my phone and an expired ID tucked into my backpack. Other than that, naked. Literally.

So many thank yous. I am not going to make a list. They all fall into the category of offered help, offered care, offered prayers. The paramedic that held my hand while they were moving me to the backboard (and probably still has marks from my nails), my calm endurance friend that stayed with me, whomever got Chanty back to camp, those I know that took care of my animals at camp. Those I don’t know. I had been packed for 2 months in CO, so I know putting the jigsaw back into my small trailer was a feat of patience and stamina. Believe me, I know, it took me two weeks to get it all in there. Lovely friends that drove them all home in the heat. My trio of endurance gals that made a schedule to take care of the boys before I got home and the lovely daughter of another horse friend that stayed here with the girls without hesitation. The friend’s kid that I hired to pick up poop. The go fund me initiated by Kim while I was under anesthesia- oh how I was waiting for that anesthesia - that I never would have approved but humbly and gratefully accept with much blessing. Cristi serving as the hub and to call my family. Carol for being my El Paso connection.

Oh, yeah, I ended up in El Paso from Fort Stanton, New Mexico. I live in Phoenix and was on my way to Boulder, Colorado.

The outlook is good. I had a “serious” fracture to my trochanter / femur on my right side. It hurts like a mofo. I got a bunch of metal. I am doing great with my walker and getting better every day. You know we have seriously high pain thresholds. When they kept asking me what my pain number was (before surgery it was pain number hyperventalation, which earned me breathing coaching) and I was thinking to myself… well if 10 is cutting off my leg with a rusty saw like in the civil war…I dunno, 7?

So yeah. Well anyway, my sister flew out, then my great friend Sandol came out. I am hoping to be able to graduate to crutches and feed on my own soon. Until then, I know I am blessed, am getting used to watching out the window as friends do chores for me, and will try and use advice that people give me. Thank you for your outpouring of love and support. It lifted me up. I will take it with me in my next chapter.

***

(edited: yes, Chant was retired, then the vet said he wasn’t ready to retire so I bought him some gold tack and we went into semi-retirement.)

Of course I have been playing the self-blame game. I didn’t follow my own pre-ride rules (that probably got us to 4,000 miles in the first place). I wasn’t riding Chant like usual- usually we are working hard, moving along, passing horses, paying attention to every step. Chant is a horse that you ride in partnership with. Hanging out the back, chatting, getting lost, walking back down a hill, being second in line in the first 20 miles, we don’t usually do any of that. So we were trotting along at a medium pace (slowish for Chanty) behind a team that we were doing well with, and I was thinking to myself: Dang, we are coming up on that section I don’t like, where they cut down the trees. Its uneven ground, branches all over. I ought to put Chant in front or walk. Boom, we were down. He fell to his knees and tried for an instant to spring back up. The momentum was too much. I flew over his head, hit the ground, starting to roll to Chant’s right and saw his big red body somersaulting toward me. With great effort he veered away from me and rolled over my leg, missing the rest of me. I was thrown on my left side, with broken side up. Chant got up to his feet and stood next to me.

You are a light in the world. XO

Chant & Kacy (he has PSSM, a metabolic disorder with which he has no business competing at endurance level - but I guess his mama didn't tell him that!!!)

The Bristol Hillbillies

 One minor accomplishment this weekend was having a pile o’junk hauled off - the addition of the gate which Scarlett broke by scratching her big booty against it last Thursday was just too much to bear! The stack in front of the barn included 2 previous gates, rusted metal shelving, and our old garage fridge which gave up the ghost at least a year ago. We also had the old BBQ grill on the side porch, and some “metal art” - big chickens which we had salvaged from a neighbor, but I never could keep ‘em staked upright; they were constantly getting blown over! (probably why he had jettisoned ‘em)

In other words, it was a trailer-load - for the life of me I can’t explain why (unemployed) DH had let this eyesore fester for months & months - in the past he has periodically gathered up the scrap & hauled it in for recycling? The few bucks they paid for scrap metal would generally at least cover the cost of the fuel. Go figure? I mean, even though I joke about us living like hillbillies, I do have some pride in our lil’ hobby farm - so I paid a guy $200 for the clean-up. At least Peran completed the pasture mowing - knocking down the tall weeds since I can’t afford to spray ‘em…

I don’t know why my iPad has gone on strike as far as posting photos - it makes my recent entries feel incomplete. I’m not a good enough wordsmith to describe the intricacies of the Tevis trail, for instance - not to mention the snappy memes I come across! I should be able to tediously email & transfer with work computer, le sigh!

Postscript: I’ve come back hopefully several times, to see if this recalcitrant iPad would start loading photos, but alas it will not cooperate! Even tried my only “repair” method, a shutdown & restart, ha ha! So I’ll have to edit later - no, it will NOT include a photo of ye olde junk pile! I was ashamed of that mess; why doesn’t my husband take more pride in our property? Maybe, as several have mentioned, he is in fact deeply clinically depressed, that could explain everything about his oddball behavior over these past months? But I cannot force him to get help - I have a funny feeling he would retreat like he’s never retreated before if I try to press the issue…

California Dreamin’

 Yesterday was the annual pinnacle-of-American-endurance events, the Tevis Cup - a 100-mi ride which traverses the Sierra Nevada Mtns, going point-to-point from Lake Tahoe to Auburn, CA. An occasion for nostalgia, as the primary reason I joined SparkPeople in 2010 was an attempt to shape up & drop a few pounds to give Baraquinator a fair shake at completion! 

My ex cruised through the Tevis on dear ol’ Wynkhy in 1997; while we had hoped to do it together, my QH mare Shawna was starting to have intermittent lameness issues, so I wound up flying out to crew for him. We joked that he was probably the only rider with his own personal veterinarian! (Since it is a point-to-point ride, riders must have at the very least, a driver to take their rig from Tahoe back to the Auburn fairgrounds. Most riders have a 2 or 3 man crew, although there is a “Cavalry” award for the few riders who make it without a crew, packing everything they need on their horse)

I submitted my own entry in Y2K, accepting the generous offer of a friend to haul me to CA since Ex had taken our big horse trailer in the aftermath of our divorce (‘99). Unfortunately, my gallant lil’ Ahab stepped off the trailer lame - I leased a mule from the Ribleys, but only made it to Deadwood (55 mi) before being pulled for being overtime. Somehow it’s never lined up for me to return - of course it’s a huge investment of time, effort, horsepower, and M-O-N-E-Y to haul to CA for a 1-d event. I must accept that the window of opportunity for me has closed, but I can still cheer on my friends…

Yesterday, Jonni, Devon, Todd, Gayle, Julie, and Lancette were on my “favorites” list. The Ride has been limited to 250 entries - while it used to be that you needed to apply early, over recent years (past decade?) the quota is never filled. Take that as an indicator of tough economic times, for sure. Typically there is about a 50% completion rate - and sure enough, Devon, Todd & Julie didn’t make it, Gayle & Jonni did well, and Lancette was the turtle. However, this year we had a lower-than-average completion rate of 40% - 54 out of 137 starters. Temperatures were higher than average for California - for us Texans it was just “summertime”. 

I got in a short ride yesterday with my friends - I took Baraq since he’s been giving me the Sad Eyes for being left behind for NM. While I had hoped to make it a “twofer” - riding Silas this morning, I got up to unexpected rain. No points nor mileage to strive towards, so I’ve stayed in to make breakfast & play on social media! 

And once again, my iPad won’t attach photos, WTH??!!??

So I will pull a few photos off of FB - 

Cougar Rock is a short, steep rocky outcrop which can provide a beautiful photo op - there is also a bypass for those who don't want to risk such a challenge relatively early-on in the Ride (approx 22 mi in). I chose to do the bypass during my attempt, since I was riding a rented mule (literally, ha ha!) and didn't want to end up on the blooper reel...

Frenemy Mine

 (aka The Rest of the Story”)

I constantly remind myself that ‘It’s not all about YOU!” - I still have a bad tendency to take things FAR too personally, as if I were the center of the universe… But my heart remains wounded from the Bad Ending of what I thought would be a lifelong friendship - I know I’ve touched on the sitch w/KS in years past. (We met & bonded through endurance riding; but I always had the nagging incomplete sense of “pursuit” - as if I was the one expending most of the effort in our relationship. She betrayed me during that last horrific custody battle by telling her husband of my strategies & tribulations, which he promptly  shared with my ex-husband, allowing he & his legal team to get ahead of me at every turn. Then they had the self-righteous gall to declare that THEY had the moral high ground! That flavor of Christianity I want no truck with!?!)

Anyway, my point being - even though we smile & nod at one another these days, our friendship will never be rekindled. When I came up to the ride meeting Friday night, Karen was there early, so I went ahead & unfolded my chair to sit next to her. Turns out she was riding with Kacy when she had her horrible accident - I’ll have to check the ride stats when they’re posted, but she may have sacrificed her own ride to stay with Kacy until the paramedics could get to her. I told her of Zach’s graduation and new job, but again, after a while it felt like a one-sided conversation. I wasn’t gonna sit there babbling inanely,  so I just shut up after a while. Several people came over to ask about Kacy & thank Karen for her assistance - then Karen got up from her chair to walk across the pavilion and sit with Sue Jaffe. If that wasn’t a snub I don’t know what is!?!

Needless to say I was relieved that she did not ride Saturday (neither did SJ, win-win!) - we did not wish each other a fond farewell, hasta luego, or anything. C’est la vie!

The wildlife-viewing highlight of my trip was the juvenile Western Diamondback rattlesnake which Silas & I sidepassed on our Saturday morning loop. I saw him/her out of the corner of my eye, circled Silas back around, but couldn't get him to simmer down enough to snap a photo - he was restive bcz there were horses up ahead that he wanted to pursue! An absolutely gorgeous specimen, buzzing his 2 lil' buttons furiously to convince us to Go Away...

I am grateful for my decision to push all the way home Sat night - I got an invite from Mijo to come over to Victoria's grandparents for fajitas; Z was the grillmaster & did an excellent job. Poor Andy is struggling with (what I hope are) aftereffects of his radiation treatments - pain in his jaw, difficulty swallowing... He had just been to the dentist who didn't find anything wrong with his teeth, thank goodness. However, my doctors kept careful watch for years following my radiation treatments for any signs of bone loss (osteonecrosis), especially in my jawbone.

Followed by The Major Pilgrimage

 (Otherwise known as my summer trip to Fort Stanton, New Mexico)

I’m thrilled to report that everything went well, mechanically & otherwise! My only complaint is that it was far too short (as usual). I drove straight through on Tuesday, which gave me the full day Wednesday to rest & recover, do some minor shopping for supplies as the nearby town of Capitan always stocks up for the Texas invasion. I rode Thursday & Saturday, taking Friday off as Silas was fatigued** and I had a minor altitude/allergy related headache.

** A 16-mile loop in the rocky hills of Fort Stanton is easily equivalent to 25-30 miles in the flatlands; Silas tripped & stumbled quite a bit which could get one’s blood pressure elevated in those hills! But I don’t think I had a lameness, a neurologic or a metabolic problem - I think I just had a clumsy Walking horse who wasn’t paying close attention to where he was putting his feet. We did my favorite, the 11-mile Homestead loop on Saturday morning; the highlight of my trip may have been the baby western diamondback we saw along trail. I saw him out of the corner of my eye, made Silas circle back - I would’ve loved to take his picture, but Silas was restive and I couldn’t take a chance on dropping my phone! He was a gorgeous little creature, buzzing those two buttons on his rattle as hard as he could…

We rested up for a couple of hours, then I went ahead and pushed all the way back home Saturday night, getting home a little before 2 AM. Let me dump a few photos and tell you the rest of the story later!

(Or not since the iPad is being funky)

Thank you work computer!

A Minor Pilgrimage

 Subtitled “If I Had More Energy I’d Be Having a Minor Freakout over How Much I Have Left To Do” aka “Nothing Ever Goes As Planned”…

I went to Bonham yesterday (an approximate 90-minute drive, barring traffic of course!) on my pilgrimage to my aunt & uncle’s house. Deep Thoughts along the way: my mom always had deep insecurity/resentments concerning her in-laws, some of which were well-founded, but many were not! Everyone else was able to laugh off the anecdote of their pastor telling my mom (age 19) that, not being a born-again member of their fundamentalist sect, she was “leading George straight to hell”, but Mom could never forgive nor forget. (No doubt that led to my dad giving up on organized religion). There were many other real & perceived slights throughout the years, but my dad loved his sisters, nieces & nephews & the rest of his extended family and Mom had no legitimate excuse for keeping us away from the big family Thanksgiving reunion, which my aunt & uncle began hosting when I was a teenager (they had the biggest house!) right up until 2018.

My uncle owned the grocery store in Bonham; his children did not appreciate being pressed into servitude there! I’m surprised Ann kept this photo of Rick & Uncle Willie: (must’ve been late 1960’s, making Rick 17 or 18)

So I got held up for longer than I planned to stay,  going through memorabilia. Didn’t drive the extra 25 mi to go see Bois D’arc Lake; I’ll have to save that for another expedition. Ann has moved into a 1-BR quadplex in a brand-new senior living community on the N end of town.

There are still many pieces of my aunt’s hand-painted porcelain - I selected a couple of pieces but honestly have no where to display them; it’s just not my bag! Much like my mom’s innumerable gee-gaws…

This was my prize - can’t believe Cousin John didn’t claim this photo! He’s the small boy, waiting not-so-patiently for his turn as his mom & Aunt Leila ride dear ol’ Molly bareback.

                        And my last few 4th of July parade photos