Sunrise and the Joy of Friendship.

 

We here at Cowfeathers have not been idle since my last blog entry. No, rarely idle. We have seen the sun rise...

 

 

 

 Collected the "I Scream You Scream We ALL Scream for Ebstein's" team for the Congenital Heart Disease Walk, raised money, walked (me-limped) 5K....

Eldest's Team: Dad, Youngest, Duty, Eldest, Cassady, Middlest, Nisha and the photog....

 all on Eldest's TEAM. (She has Ebstein's Anomaly, a congenital heart disease) I did spot a small child on the walk, with blue tinged lips, smaller than she should be, drawn in the face, and asked her mom if she had Ebstein's. She does, more severe than my own eldest baby, but I was able to point out my tall, healthy, beautiful 18 year old daughter and give that mother hope.

 A tad wet, but a beautiful fall day with my family. The red leis are because we are walking in honor of someone still alive. The groups with the white leis walked in memory of a child, and I cried a lot.
One mother was there, walking with her friends, in honor of the daughter she lost at 6 weeks to a hypoplastic right ventricle. But for the grace of God there go I.

 We weren't a speedy team, but we kept each other company!

 

And, I gotta say, Eldest has friends that are good sports, know how to have fun, and will line dance. Even if they are the only ones out of the thousand present.

 

 

 

 

 We watched the sun rise on the way to Middlest's Pony Club D3 rating,

 

 That's her and Nelle in the center of the photo, having had formal inspection and answering questions for the Examiner.

 Then watched the sky turn gray, and the rain come and go, and come and go.....

 But Nelle and Middlest didn't melt, and did perform...

 On the flat and over fences at beautiful Redtail Ridge Farm.

Where I spotted this chipper Amanita 'shroom in the grass,

 
 
 
 
 
realized how very much I want to dig a pond,

 and got to congratulate Middlest on being awarded her D3 Rating and Certificate for the United States Pony Club! Along with Ry and Val, the trio worked hard all day showing off their riding skills and horse knowledge. Quick- name 6 horse breeds, 5 draft breeds and 4 pony breeds. Got it? Okay, well, how about 6 rules of feeding, or the most efficient way to cool out a horse? Can you apply a polo wrap- to USPC standard? Identify conformation faults of the head, neck, back and rump? I tell ya, poor Middlest had conducted the band at the high school football game the night before, managed about 5 hours of sleep and then worked her tail off to earn her D3. She is starting to understand the old analogy "burning your candle at both ends"!


And, even with all this wonder and amazing achievement in our little family and our little farm, perhaps the special moment for me came earlier in the week, with a visit from an oldest and dearest.

This photo was taken, circa 1986. Home for Christmas from college, my besties from high school would get together each year for our own family celebration. This one was at Ames' house, and I shot the photo. ( Had Wenders taken it, it would be a better photo. She was yearbook photog, and went on to become a professional behind the camera. Still, there is a photo.) These girls are the best thing that came out of the 47 days I attended high school. (Okay, that is exaggeration. I'm sure I went to more than 100 days. At least part of them. I was the original "burning my candle at both ends" girl.)
My friends and I are spread apart these days. Well, since high school. Pennsylvania, California, Kansas, Ohio  and Tanzania are now our homes. We are a mix of professionals, mothers, wives, changers of life. But rarely do we see one another.
Back in the mid 90's, feeling too far apart and disconnected from these girls, I started what became known as "The Fat Letter". No, not a comment on the expansion of body size, but a description of what the letter became. Too fat for most envelopes! What we did was; I wrote a letter, to them, about my life, loves, aches, what we would share were we in a room together, and sent it to Ames. Then she read mine, added hers and sent it to Cath, who added hers and sent it to Wenders, who added hers... on to T. ....get the idea? Well, when it came back to me, I would take out my old letter, write a new one and send it on to Ames again. In this way we counseled each other through pregnancies, job changes, marriage issues, saw pictures of our children and families and homes. I looked forward to The Fat Letter in the mail every few months. When the Internet became the go-to for communication, The Fat Letter faded out.  Unfortunately, so did our communication!
We did make an effort to come together in the "aughts". And in 2008 those who could manage met in Pittsburgh for a weekend together. It was wonderful.

We swore we would do it every year. But that stretched as time does not, and we have not managed to be together since. We have seen one another periodically as we pass through each other's states. Wenders and I are only 3 hours apart, and she is whom I've seen the most, getting to enjoy her amazing children.

But, I was blessed by that kind of effort early last week when Ames, on her way back from a retreat in Michigan came here for the night- "on the way" back to Philly. YAY! YAY! YAY!!!

Like it is with all dear friends, within 30 seconds, we were right back on the same page, and didn't shut up until she left the next morning. So very good for my soul. I love this strong, smart, funny woman.

Once again, when with these girls, I'm so "in" that I nearly forgot to get a photo.

Lucky I remembered. Lucky I know the joy of friendship.