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Culture

Jun 25 2021

Facebook: The Horse that Heaven Forgot

In these times, the wellbeing of equines,  horses and donkeys, is threatened along many fronts, from legal, round-ups, legislation, poor care, and outright abandonment.   These abusive outrages are global.  Then, there are the kill auctions where they seem to meet the end of the road.  I believe from there they are sold to Canada or Mexico to be processed for consumption, something that is not allowed in this country.  So on one hand, we as a country love horses and donkeys enough not to want to eat them, but we are okay with abusing and neglecting them, and sending them to kill auctions.

I would like to think most Americans do not know anything about this, they believe the sanitized images they see in magazines or on television of affluent people riding their beautifully turned out horses and assume all horses are living that kind of life.  Nothing can be further from the truth.  Horses and donkeys starve to death or die of a disease every day, and their plight is worse in other countries.

If I write about horses and donkeys in my blog from time to time, it is not because I am too lazy to write about my borzoi, it is because I know most people have huge hearts and do not know about their plight.  I believe if they knew, they may  want to donate to a horse or donkey charity, of which there are many all over the country and the world.  With that in mind, I would like to post a poem that appeared on Facebook by Sally Marsh on January 16, 2021.  It touched my heart and I hope it touches yours, too, or at the least, makes you sensitive to the needs and cares of the equines, the little beasts of burden, with which we share our lives.

The Horse that Heaven Forgot

Sally Marsh

January 16, 2021

Winter came sharply to the field on the hill, where the old horse stood patiently his back turned against the chill.

His raggedy frame now bony, a shadow of his former self.

In his younger days, this gallant horse had been kept in the finest of health,

His owner, Bob, had doted on him and always been by his side, but now it had been a long time since they went for their daily ride.

Bob had grown much slower as he brought out the sweet, fresh hay,

Slower and more quiet each and every day.

One morning things were different.  Bob just didn’t arrive.

And the old horse watched the ambulance as it made its way down the drive.

Three days went past and the old horse waited by the gate.  But he knew in his heart, his old friend was not just late.

He raised up his gentle head to look up to the sky, watching the heavy rain clouds as they swirled and drifted by.

He hoped Bob was happy and warm and safe up there, he would always miss his companionship, his love, his care.

Sheltered beneath the oak tree he stood sadly, not moving from his spot.

Was he now going to be the horse heaven forgot?

Quiet footsteps approaching soon made him prick up his ears, and soon a gentle voice was dispelling all his fears.

The kind girl whispered softly, “Don’t worry; I am here to take you home.

Grandpa made me promise not to ever leave you alone.”

The old horse breathed deeply as she held his heavy head, he knew now he would be loved again, kept warm, dry and fed.

Side by side they wandered along the bumpy track, fresh food in his belly, a rug upon his back.

In his new home he had shelter and grass so tall and green, his hay net was always full, and his water bucket clean.

When the young girl would call him he headed for her in his finest trot,

Now happy that he was not the horse that heaven forgot.

 

Written by Lorene · Categorized: American History, Culture, Family Lilfe, Horses, Love, Rescue, Rural Landscapes

Mar 26 2021

“They call me Mimi but my name is Lucia….”

I have been having a busy week.  I had my six month checkup for my lung cancer surgery last September, with a CAT-Scan with contrast media, and follow up with the surgeon.  I am very aware that breathing is a different experience for me, and not for the better, but I am adjusting.  I even gained five pounds, which is a significant for me.

My chronic anorexia, and the experience of being inexplicably abandoned by someone who swore his love and commitment to me, only to be followed up by  ghosting me, made the recovery almost impossible.  Without love, it took away my strength to recover, and my will to live.  But I am made of tougher stuff and survived in spite of it.

Today is very early spring, and I have reason for optimism and looking ahead.   I am attaching a photo of my son and my grand-daughter, Piper Starling Connolly, who visited me a week ago, making me very happy.  Kensie is standing by my side, where she can always be found.

I am reminded of Mimi’s aria in Act. 1 of the opera, La Boheme, set in Paris, my favorite city in the world.   I would like to share it as an ode to spring for all of us, and to my own victory over death and despair. Mimi is forced to face her own mortality by the end of Act 3, as shall we all.  But in Act I, there is flirting, laughter, and the hope that only comes in spring.  Find it on YouTube to listen to the beautiful melody.  The words follow:

“They call me Mimi, but my name is Lucy.

I embroider flowers, roses and lilies on silk.

I am peaceful and happy; it is my pass time.

I like these things.  They have so sweet a smell,

They speak of love, of spring, of chimera, these things

That have poetic names….. do you understand me?

Yes, they call me Mimi, why, I do not know….

Alone, I make my lunch for myself,

I do not always go to mass.

But I pray a lot to the Lord.

I live alone and cook for myself.  Alone….

But when the thaw comes, the first sun is mine!

The first kiss of April is mine!

Rose buds in a vase, leaf and buds

I watch them.  The flowers I make,

They do not have an odor

Rose buds in a vase,

Leaf by leaf, I watch it

The gentle perfume of a flower!

But the flowers I make

Ah me, they do not have any odor!

About me, I would not know how to tell.

I am only your neighbor come to bother you!”

From Act I of the Italian opera La Bohème by Giacomo Puccini

Libretto: Giuseppe Giacosa

Written by Lorene · Categorized: Art, Borzoi, Culture, Depression, Dogs, Drama, Eating Disorder, Family Lilfe, Food, Friendship, Grief, Joy, Love, Opera, Religion

Mar 21 2021

First day of Spring at Blyss, Mountainside, NJ

It was a bit too cold for me to be happy about the first week of Spring, but it can only get better.  I have not done much yet outdoors.  I see the little bits of green weeds starting to show, and I know there will be more to follow, keeping me busy.  Some crocuses have bloomed between the snow drops.  No daffodils yet.   I might go and see the Philadelphia Flower Show in early June with a new friend I have met on Facebook dating who says he wants to take me.  We’ll see, we have not met face to face yet.  I am getting my second vaccine shot on Thursday, and then I  have to remain in quarantine for two weeks.
I have been spending a lot of time watching and/or listening to operas, on DVDs, CDs or YouTube.  I have quite a collection.  It has helped the long stretches of time pass.  I am tired of reading and watching movies, and I am a huge fan of operas.  Sometimes I just listen to arias, other times I want to watch the entire opera.  Recently, I have watched, over and over, La Traviata, La Boheme, Turondot, Madame Butterfly, Lucia de Lamamore, La Sommnabula, The Elixir of Love, Norma, Nabucco, The Barber of Seville, and probably others as well,  I used to go to the Metropolitan Opera, before I got the dogs.  There was nothing like it.  Ever.  My favorite singers are Pavarotti and Maria Callas.  I also like a soprano, Anna Moffo, who was very beautiful.  She has many operas and arias on YouTube.  Sadly, they are all  deceased.
Soon, I will have to resume my endless weeding.  I have begun walking Kensie this week for my 2 mile walk.  I see my surgeon for a follow up appointment on Tuesday.  I hope he is pleased with how I am doing.  I gained five pounds since the surgery.
Although I am alone and not happy about it, somehow, life just goes on.  I just put one foot in front of the other and it happens.  There is no point thinking about it, whatever I think about something doesn’t  matter, life itself is going to happen, regardless.  I think recognizing this has helped me attain a certain level of wisdom I did not have before.  It’s like the end of the movie, Splendor in the Grass, written by William Ing, when Deanie goes to visit Bud on his farm after she comes home from her stay in a psychiatric hospital.  In the scene, she asks him, “Are you happy?”  Bud looks at her and says, “I don’t think much about happiness anymore.  You have to take what comes.”  Deanie agrees that is best and they separate.   Like Bud, who as a young man “had it all”,  I try not to think of my life in terms of happiness being there or not, or how much I achieved, either.  Just given the passage of time, something new will happen to me that will be beyond my control, it will just happen, something good or something bad.  And I won’t be able to do a single thing about it.
Virus-free. www.avg.com
Virus-free. www.avg.com

Written by Lorene · Categorized: Culture, Friendship

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