THE HORSES…
I stopped over to see Melvin yesterday…it was the first time in a number of weeks. (OH!..for all of you who are new to the blog…Melvin owns the herd of horses that I photograph…) Melvin seems to be doing well! I took a little basket with some Easter candy in it to him and I think he liked that…He had me open a large trunk that sits in his living room…he wanted to show me all of the little Easter decorations that his wife used to sit on the shelves at the house. She liked to decorate for all of the seasons and the trunk had all of her little treasures in it. He encouraged me to take things out of the trunk and I think he just wanted to see them again and share his wife with me a little..She died in 2001 in a car accident. He talked about her a lot yesterday….so sweet and we shared some sadness…It’s not the same thing at all, but I told him that my cat of 17 years, Zero, had passed on Thursday…and for some reason that triggered his thoughts of his wife.
I went out with him to put the horses in the barn for the night….he gets around very slowly…walker to the front door, walker to the steps on the porch…cane down the steps to his golf cart…a cane to open and close the door for the horses and then a walker once they’re inside. I go on ahead of him to the horses…he doesn’t want ANY help getting around, so I leave him to it…(I sneak a look every now and then to make sure he’s doing all right). I took a few quick shots while the horses were waiting for Melvin to get there and then I took one of Melvin…I JUST LOVE THIS PHOTO!!!!!!!
So following along the lines of my visit with Melvin…on this very special weekend, celebrate the love and the life that was given to us.
Love to you all….Zannyro.
Mac….
Melvin
AWAY TOO LONG….
It’s been awhile since I spent time shooting images of “the boys”…Melvin’s herd of horses.
Today I went over to deliver some books for a friend of his..and got to hear how he’s
turning into something of a “celebrity” because of the book that I wrote about
“The Boys” and of course, Melvin himself…..
The temperature had climbed to 95 degrees by the time we finished talking, but
I still wanted to walk out and say hi to the horses….
Maybe it was the heat, but Bob walked right up proceeded to chew on the camera
and allowed me to pet him for AGES!!!
(Had to clean the camera later)
Next up was Joe..the KING…and amazingly!…he allowed me to pet him for as
long as I cared to!! I’m so amazed that they are accepting me more and more..
even though I hadn’t been there in some time.
No images of Bob today…since he was practically standing on top of me, it
was a little difficult…
Melvin and I talked a long time after my visit with the horses…and even though
“Foot” is gone….”Callie” is still there and I don’t know if Melvin ever noticed, but
Callie follows him everywhere too. While we talked, Callie made herself comfortable
in the grasses……What a great morning….
JOE WAS GLAD I WAS BACK…BUT APPARENTLY NOT EVERYONE FELT THE SAME WAY…
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CALLIE.
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CALLIE KEEPS COOL.
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AN UPDATE ON “BOB’S” DAD…
I saw Melvin again today….I decided to take him copies of the pictures that I posted
of him with “Foot” the other day…
I was really relieved that he was happy to get them…not sad…and
REALLY happy to hear that he is becoming something of a celebrity because
of the book…”‘Being Bob”.
A woman called me last night to order four books, she’s a distant relative
of Melvin’s and he was so excited to tell me that she came to his house
to see the book in person. She wants him to “sign” hers when she gets it.
She has her first grand-daughter and she wants his “autograph”!
He was so happy!
It was kind of adventure when I first got to the farm.
I had to wait for him by the barn when I first got there…he wasn’t in the house
so I thought he had gone out….as I got in my car to leave, I heard the sound
of the barn door moving..out of the cool dark barn came “beauty” his black
dog…(it’s 93 today).
Beauty came up to greet me and then walked back toward the barn..I was worried
that Melvin was in there…the door had been mostly shut, so that wasn’t like
Melvin.
Beauty proceeded to guide me around the side of the barn and then she just stood
staring out into the field….far, far, out in the field I could just see the top of
Melvin’s golf cart….I went back to my car, got my phone..a scarf to protect
my neck from the sun and went back to make the long trek to check on the
golf cart…as I started my hike..I realized the cart was moving.
I watched Melvin drive back to the ten acre woods, and then I saw the herd…
he had rounded them up and they came flying through the field, headed for the
barn….way behind them came Melvin in the golf cart.
I was so relieved to see him…but I didn’t let him know that..he’s very
independent.
THE BELOVED “FOOT”.
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MELVIN AND ONE OF THE “ANGEL HORSES”.
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The horses ran up for a big, long drink of water and then waited for Melvin
to open the stable door and in they went…DINNER!!
You might be asking yourself, “where did “Beauty” go???”
She walked over, climbed into the horse’s water trough, and proceeded
to be a very happy dog.
MEET “BOB’S” DAD…
I just wanted you all to meet “Bob’s” Dad…Melvin.
I went to visit Melvin today and I took him his copy of the book about
his horse “Bob”..
It was a good moment and a sad moment…He told me pretty quickly that
his beloved cat “foot” had disappeared. Sadly, he is pretty sure that a friend
hit the cat and tried to hide the fact…so now he has lost his friend and “foot”.
I sat there with him and tried to hide the fact that I was crying…he’s almost
eighty-five and “foot” went everywhere with him…He waited for Melvin to
climb into his golf cart…then he would jump in too…he would ride to the barn
with Melvin, sit on a bale of hay to watch Melvin feed Bob and the rest
of the herd, and then ride back to the house in the golf cart with Melvin.
It was really hard to hear him talk about looking for “foot”…he had nursed him
back to health one winter when the cat almost died.
I’m glad that I went to visit him and I’ll try to get back to see him more often..
Sniff.
Shoot,,,still sniffing.
