Back from Massachusetts

Jim and I arrived home to Finksburg tonight at 6:30, after spending the weekend at the Three County Fairgrounds in Northampton, MA for the 4-H Horse Show. We drove up on Friday morning and arrived that evening. Saturday morning we surprised our granddaughter Madeleine as she was in line with her horse for the Fitting and Showmanship class. We had said we might be coming up, but with the hurricane Gustav weather forecast and the long trip, Maddy really didn't think we'd be there. She's 16 years old, and she's been riding and since she was about 6. In all that time, Jim and I have never seen her compete. Well, we finally did it - made the trip and spent the whole weekend watching the competitions - showing of the horses, games, and equitation judging- and loved it all. Maddy is amazing. She took ribbon after ribbon (7 in all) in various competitive events, and finally - for the second year in a row - she earned the title of Champion of the show! Out of all those wonderfully talented kids, she was on top. Hooray!!!

Maddy has her own horse, Cassie, and they have been together for about 5 years. Maddy is the only person who has trained her, and they are a great team. Maddy works at the barn with her many hours a week, in addition to school sports - soccer and track - and other activities, and maintains straight A's. I have no idea how she does it.

We experienced the wrath of Gustav starting Saturday afternoon and lasting all night. Thank goodness the competition was held inside. I have no idea how many inches of rain fell, but it was a deluge. Everyone looked like drowned rats, including us when we finally left to go back to our hotel. I felt badly for the kids, because they had to remain on the grounds to take care of their horses for the entire weekend. They weren't allowed to leave the grounds. Some slept in the barn stalls, some in horse trailers, some in cars. This is the first year that Bob, Maddy's Dad, didn't stay at the Fairgrounds. He went home and caught a few hours sleep in his own bed this year. Sunday the rain was gone and the day was perfect, even if full of mud and puddles.

Being in MA also gave us a great chance to spend time with the other family members and catch up on what's happening in their lives. Our granddaughter Hannah is now a sophomore at U Mass, having just started classes again this past week. This July she spent 3 weeks in Thailand with a group of students, learning about the culture and helping to plant a rice field. She became ill the day after returning to the U.S., and required hospitalization and surgery for an abdominal obstruction. Her case was so unusual that she needed to be ambulanced to a different hospital in Springfield, MA for surgery. It was an extremely harrowing experience resulting in a week's stay in hospital and a 9-inch incision from stem to stern, but she is healing well and looks as beautiful as ever. Thank God she didn't get sick when she was in Thailand, since it could have been far, far worse.

The cats were all glad to see us return, and have been voicing their complaints since we arrived. They have a cat sitter, but aren't allowed outside while we're away, and they hate it.

PHOTOS: I had an awful time trying to get pictures. Most all were blurry. 1) Maddy performing one of the commands during an Equitation Class. Can you believe her posture? She's wearing her brand new pink chaps, her first pair ever. 2) A closeup of Cassie. What a beautiful horse. 3) Proud Mom Cindy/Lee and Maddy, wearing her jean jacket prize with embroidered emblem for the 4-H Champion and holding the Champion ribbon.