Well, the weekend didn't go entirely as planned, but it was still pretty good. I set the clock-radio to go off early Friday morning, so I could spray the weeds, and when it went off, the first words I heard were "rain this afternoon", so I groaned and went back to sleep. Didn't wake again until after noon.
I got to the Ulster County Fairgrounds at about 4 PM. The article I had read said that you could get up close and personal with the horses until 5 PM (the show was at 7). When I arrived, there were no other cars in the parking lot. No signs. The ring next to the parking lot was empty, but there were a lot of RVs and tractor-trailer-type horse trailers near it, and a large tent where I could see travel stalls set up, and huge white horses in the stalls. I walked toward there, and found no people, although the RV doors were mostly open. I was greeted by three friendly dogs (and two unfriendly ones tied under RVs, who set up a row), but no people. I began to wonder if I had the wrong night, or if maybe a space ship had spirited all the people away. I wandered around a bit, "Hello! Anybody here?", and finally just went into the tent and talked to the horses. They were quite friendly.
About 4:30, when I was beginning to wonder if I should just go home, some young women arrived and began feeding the horses. I gathered later that they had all been in town for dinner. They ignored me. Then another woman arrived. She had an enormous grin, and bustled from stall to stall, asking the workers all kinds of questions. I gathered that she just LOVED horses (although judging from her questions she didn't know a whole lot about them) and was just THRILLED to be here, and isn't this just SO exciting.... I decided to wander off myself.
There was more than enough time to go to Kingston and pick up May and bring her back in time for the show, so I called her and told her all about it. At first she said yes, but then after she thought about it a bit, she changed her mind. I told her I planned to go to the craft fair on Saturday, and she said that craft fairs weren't her thing. I'm not sure that what she had in mind for "craft fair" was anything near the actuality, but I was argued out. However, she'd got a care package from a relative, and invited NJKC and me over to eat it, so at least she's not withdrawing. (Note to self - tell NJKC.)
Talked to May for 45 minutes. Wandered around. Read my book. Finally it was time for the show. I didn't count, but I don't think there were more than 60-80 adults in the stands.
The first and last time I had seen the Lipizzan Stallions was in the middle 50's, in Ottawa, Canada. The Queen Mum was visiting, and since she loved horses, one of the events during her stay was horses. First there was the Spanish Riding School, then the Lipizzaners, then the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Musical Ride - the full complement! What I remember most from that night was the precision. Something like 500 mountie horses all moving in arrow-straight lines, all in step, all in exact time with the music. The Lipizzans were as precise. These Lipizzans, Friday night, were not precise. They'd have four horses across, but their chests were not even, not even close to even. They did all the same centuries-old movements and patterns, but there seemed to be a very la-de-da attitude toward them. I was very disappointed. To make it worse, the patriarch had a heavy Austrian accent, distorted further by the (unnecessary) sound system, so you couldn't understand half of what he said.
Oh, well. I glad I went.
I was a bit miffed that it hadn't rained at all. I might have missed my only chance to spray the thistles before full summer. The sky had been very heavy all day. At the fairgrounds I got one drop of rain on my glasses, and then the sky cleared. But when I drove home, as soon as I crossed the village line, the roads were wet. The garbage can left at the end of the driveway in the morning had about 2 inches of water in it. A neighbor told me it had poured early in the evening. So it's a good thing I didn't spray after all.
No comments:
Post a Comment