Carolina Corral

Well, our dear friend, Tracey, has the flu. So. Har and I went to her shop, Awl Made Here, to put a 'closed' note on her door. As we were walking back to our Geo Tracker (or 'Chick Magnet', as Harry calls it), Dana rumbles by in her beat up, old pick up truck with her dog (Red Dog) in the bed and a donkey tied to the right side and a horse tied to the left side; both trotting like crazy trying to keep up. Yikes!


I was amazed. Although you never know what you are going to see on the road in Coral Bay. 'What are you doing Dana???! I bet you're wearing your seatbelt, right?'
I turn to Harry and he's just shaking his head in disbelief.
"Aww Harry, I miss Dana! Let's go see her!"
So Harry and I made the short trip over to Dana's Carolina Corral. (In Coral Bay, just past Skinny Legs and the mangroves.)


When we caught up with her, Dana explained that she, Red Dog, the horse, and donkey just came from Career Day at Guy Benjamin School. Wow. That must of been interesting for the kids; I wish I could have been there.
Dana is possibly the most amazing woman I've ever met. I believe that if Dana had time to hang out with poets as well as horses, there would be volumes of poems written about her.


(Dana checking out Winter's eye)

Everyday, twice a day and by herself, Dana feeds and waters 20 or so donkeys ,horses, several goats, sheep, deer, a dog, cats and more. In addition, she gives medicine, injections, does an occasional surgery and an occasional middle of the night sickness or birth. Then there are the administrative duties of running a business and, of course, her primary focus of saddling all the horses and taking dozens of tourists on three tuff mountain trail rides 6 days a week. AND she maintains the trails when they get washed out and does most repairs as needed at the Corral- all of this and I have never heard a swear come out of her mouth.
I helped her one season and collapsed from exhaustion and heat everyday after only a few hours and I gave up completely after a couple of weeks. By the way, she also has a limited amount of cistern water and only solar energy.
I highly recommend a visit to Carolina Corral. Dana's trail rides are special - you just don't get trail rides like these anymore. These are mountain trails and the horses are alert, not bored. And you won't be bored either; the views at the end of the trail are incredible. There's not another ride like it anywhere.
By the way, Dana rescues and brings back to health many St. John animals. Even if you are not taking a trail ride, you might enjoy visiting her corral and leaving a donation. Call 340 693 5778 to visit or arrange a trail ride.
Here are some of the characters you'll meet while you are there:


This is Rock Star; who, of course, stole attention


Andre



My favorite horse, Ivan



Sebastian




Fanny



Ginger - she wears special boots for the mountain trail



and Mindy



Love is........ :-)

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The Perfect Day

During the night there was a loud storm with strong gusts of wild wind and sheets of rain that poured off the roof. At sunrise,though, a bright, warm, beautiful world opened up. Evidently It's Indian Summer and I am enjoying the perfect day.
Harry started our day right by making us a breakfast of omelets, then the Baa Brothers and I did a whole 15 minutes of fall clean up:

















Then, we went for a long walk:





(We are so grateful for our miles of conservation land just a short walk from Saturday Farm and this is such a gorgeous time of year. Sometimes we pack some wine and bread and cheese amd spend hours walking the trails. Harry never seems to mind all of the little stops I make to check things out or to take pictures.











(That's my buddy there, Handyman Harry.)





We didn't run across anyone on our walk except this artist working on the little wooden bridge.











(Our pc is broken, so I took all of these photos with my phone so I could upload them to this blog.)
Now, I'm on the couch writing to you and watching the game with Harry. Like I said -the perfect day. Tell me, what is your perfect day?
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Dracula's Cat?

There's something about our cat. Her fur is exquisitely soft and her eyes are large and sweet. Sometimes when she tilts her head just right I can't help but reach down and pet her . For 15 seconds she'll close her eyes and sink a little as if she loves it. Then...FLASH! She's a weed wacker and you'll pull your bloody hand away in shock. On the other hand, she is very clean and never meows - rarely even when she's very hungry. However, around midnight for about a dozen nights in Spring, she will howl - long, loud, pitiful howls completely out of proportion to her size.
I didn't think anything of any of this (except 'she is so wierd') until Har and I went to see the performance of Dracula at the Harwich Junior Theater this week. (It was wonderful, by the way, but we sat in the second row and I was actually scared -next time I want more audience between me and Dracula.). Now it's obvious-I don't understand why I didn't see it before- Smudgey is from Translavania!
She's near me right now; I'm going to take a picture. What do you think?








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