Horse Mail from Dear Detective!

I got another delightful piece of mail from Dear Detective and besides the lovely letter, I was so excited and happy to see the horse on the back. I think I'd be happy if I only ever got horse themed mail for the rest of my life. I mean variety is delightful, but if I had to chose one thing it would be horses.

I loved all the little details too, like these triangles cut out and this awesome awesome tomato post-it note.

Mail art is the best.

Mystery Gift!

 Just look at this amazing thing!


It arrived in the mail in a suspicious package that said something about paypal on it, and my birthday is coming up in about 2 months, so I had to check with Clay and my parents to see if I should open it.  Imagine my surprise when they were all as puzzled as I! Clay opened it himself just in case he had actually ordered it and then forgot about it, which is totally something he would do.  But he hadn't, so the mystery remains.  


Isn't it beautiful? I think it is cast iron.  

To my amazing anonymous gift giver, THANK YOU!! I love it!!!!!

And it works beautifully. At this point I've used it about half a dozen times.  

Thank you so much!!!!!  

Outgoing to 2011 Letters, and a video from the Chincoteague Pony Swim

 

 Here's my letter to the 2011 Letters project.  I ended up writing more about Maryland where I grew up, than I did about Boston.  I can't even tell you how much I love Maryland.

I grew up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland (the DelMarVa peninsula) and I lived about 40 minutes away from Chincoteague of the famous Chincoteague ponies. 
(Chincoteague is actually in Virginia)

In 2009 I went to the Annual Chincoteague Pony Swim.  Here is the description from the Assateague Island website:  "The Pony Swim has occurred since 1925. If you go, be prepared to wait for long hours with the crowds in the hot sun. During the brief 3 minute pony swim event, the wild horses swim across the Assateague Channel when the tide is "slack calm" so the young ponies, which are born during spring or early summer, are safe from any strong currents."

This is your basic view of the actual swim:

But afterwards, there is a parade through the town, and if you get a good spot, you can see the horses very close up.  Here is the video I took:

New Life For Horses and Inmates

 http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/09/18/maryland.prison.horses/index.html?hpt=C2

This article about inmates working with retired racehorses touched very close to my heart.
As an undergraduate I participated in a reading conversation group sponsored by my university at a nearby medium security prison.  My time working with the inmates taught me so much and opened my eyes to a completely different sphere of society than the one that I grew up in.  I would love to participate in a similar program again.  Combining that experience with my love for horses sounds ideal.  Second Chance Farm looks like an amazing place.

Horsey Horsey

So, to start off my new blog, it is only appropriate that I explain the title.  Winnie (Windsong) was my horse.  My beloved flea-bitten gray Arabian mare that I felt closer to than I can ever describe.  She passed away about two years ago, but I still miss her terribly and I'm still hers.

And I just found this great "Horsey" bike by Eungi Kim from Korea this morning.

This would have been perfect for me as a child, when I was always pretending my bike was a horse anyway.  I named my bike-horse Esmerelda.

From: http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/8/view/11472/horsey-by-eungi-kim-seoul-cycle-design-competition-shortlist-revealed.html