April, What's Your Hurry?

 According to Scientific American, the earth is rotating at 460 meters a second. That's 1,000 miles per hour. I bring this up because it really feels like April is flying by. It has been the best of months and the worst of months. In this post, I will focus on the best parts. This picture is, speaking of the passage of time, of some clam fossils that Brandon found a few weeks ago when we were in New Jersey. He was very excited to visit a fossil bed in Red Bank.

Naturally, when we go to New Jersey to visit Brandon's dad, the beach is one of our favorite places to be. Here is Getty enjoying the sun.

She was really enjoying herself! And she better, because after May 1st, dogs are not allowed on the beach until September. Cruel beach laws!

Before we left NJ, we snapped a picture of ourselves. The camera is on a 12 second timer and we felt very silly smiling at no one.

Meanwhile, back in MA, finally spring is underway. It takes a long time in our neck o' the woods for the earth to warm, even if it is spinning around at 1000mph. But on my way to Bill's today, look at the signs of spring I found:

These little dandelionish looking flowers are called Coltsfoot.

And these little beauties are called Bloodroot. And in case you do not already know why they are called Bloodroot, I will show you:

Here is the root that I dug up. BLOODY!!!!!  They are such a cheerful flower, I love them so.

So anyway, after all this flower gazing, I made it to Bill's and got Lilly out. Today was exciting because our friend Johanna had brought her friend Trish over to meet Lilly, Bill, and the herd. This is Trish in the photo with me. Bill and I convinced her to take QTee and join us on a trail ride. Trish is an experienced rider. She is so experienced in fact that the last horse she was on (a horse named Buttons which makes him sound cute and deceptively harmless) bucked her off and gave her a broken back! Yipes, Buttons. Who wants that experience??  No one! Since her accident, Trish has not been riding. But lately has been missing horses. So today turned into her inaugural back-in-the-saddle ride. She had not planned on it being so, but the day was so bright, and QTee is always so perfect and willing, that it happened spontaneously.

Bill started out on Cody, and I was, of course on Lilly. All three horses would have galloped off through the trail if we had let them. They were that throttle-ready. But we kept it mellow. QTee let us know her bridle was too loose almost immediately. It looked like she was trying to eat the bit in her mouth. As soon as that was adjusted, she was just like the dreamboat we know her to be.

Up at the BP, Bill dropped Cody off and took Jodie out. Both Cody and Jodie are red roans. It really looked like Bill hadn't made a switch at all once we started moving again.

Another great ride.