I often reminisce about my life and while I was going through some pictures I found the one I have posted above and it brought back alot of good memories and a few sad ones. Years ago I had a partner that was a horse trainer and sulky racer and as you can see from the photo above I happen to have been 1/3 owner of Libra O and I always got a kick that my name was always listed first. It made me feel very important.
I have always loved horses and rode some when I was younger. Sulky racing was a new experience for me and watching Bort train his horses gave me a great respect for the man, he is now racing horses in Heaven because he told me that is what he would be doing and I totally believe him. He was a good man and a good trainer and he always encouraged me to help, especially when he wanted the stalls mucked out.
We use to board the horses at the York fairgrounds for years until they decided they weren’t making enough money from the horsemen and they used the excuse that they were going to demolish the buildings because of the asbestos roofs so we moved them to Hanover. The horses were always a big draw for people and the kids loved to come over and pet them. Those buildings are still standing to this day and the asbestos still there.
At any rate Hanover was nice and the place we boarded them was perfect. Bort had quite a few horses that he owned and trained and even raced many of them until he crashed one time too many and had to have a back operation. We always raced them at the fairs around the area and Dover, Yonkers, Rosecroft and all over. I have a lot of great memories and it was always exciting especially when we won.
I also learned how to place bets and that was fun unless 50 million people wanted me to place bets for them at the track instead of going through the local bookie, but of course if they won the proper thing was to give me 10% for all the hassle. I always loved going to the winner circle and hated it when I had to work an miss a race like the one above. Libra was a great horse and so smart and she had lots of promise.
Libra O was a 2 year old and she got a virus so Bort called the Vet and she came over and gave Libra an antibiotic and Libra O got worse not better. She was allergic to the antibiotic and they didn’t catch it in time and she died and it broke my heart. I simply lost all interest in the rest of the horses and refused to go to any more races. It took me years to get over that, but seeing the picture made me remember the good times without the pain.
Everyone has an opinion and I have mine doesn’t make them right, but we are each entitled to them. I have revised many of my opinions over the years and I can admit when I feel I am wrong about something even if I don’t like being wrong. I refuse to argue about politics or religion because I don’t have to prove anything and I don’t need someone to agree with me to validate my opinions.
It’s so funny that most of us humans have had the same type of experiences so we understand and can empathize easily when we hear our own stories being told by someone else. It just makes me wonder how individual we really are. Of course each story always seems to have a few twists and turns that we may not have experienced, but they are close enough that I feel like my life has been plagiarized at times.
Everyone wants to be special or gifted in some way, at least I know I did when I was young and it came as a big shock to me when I realized I was mediocre, but I learned to deal with it and accept it. My comprehension is pretty good and I’m usually a good listener so those are 2 good tools I have been able to use in my life time to fool people into believing I am intelligent.
I have always admired intelligence, but I admire common sense more. I have known many intelligent people and learned over the years that they love to talk and expound on their views of the world and everything and everybody in it and as long as you simply interject a profound word or thought every now and then, then they think you’re just as great as they are.
What a boring world it would be if we all thought and did the same things at the same time and we all developed the same special gift or talent. What lessons would we be able to learn? I know we all strive for the same things like love, understanding, peace, and all of the creature comforts that would make us happy and the great thing is we have choices that will make each life a little different.
Cult’s have always been a big concern of mine because the people that are seeking understanding for their life seem to be drawn in by strong minded opinionated people that promise heaven on earth and then they are brain washed into sharing that leaders opinions and sometimes it’s way too late before they realize they should have developed their own. I’m sure you remember the Jim Jones horror plus many others.
I am now happy not to be gifted or talented because there is no pressure exerted on me and it doesn’t bother me anymore that I’m just average. I like living in a world where average is the norm because I really don’t have the need to stand out, but I have the choice to be different if I choose and I can be just as opinionated as I want without having anyone agree with me and it’s okay.
I guess things are back to normal around here since Bill came home so here I am trying to catch up and not getting very much done. I was busy moving furniture and cleaning and it was a peaceful and lonely Memorial weekend without Bill, but I was determined to spend very little time on here to get some things accomplished.
I think it was appalling the way our Vietnam Vets were treated in the past and I’m grateful everyday for Bill. The Government was the culprit not our boys in the war they were forced to participate in. These poor young men were treated like criminals and I still remember the ones that I knew and how they felt. What a senseless war.
I took some photos below of some things that Bill sent home which were locked away out of sight because everything was shameful for his then wife Judy. He was not allowed to hang anything on the walls as a reminder, but that’s all changed now because I thought he needed a tribute wall for all of his memories, good and bad and a few years back I found all these memories that had been tucked away.
I am not a very good photographer, but I felt like sharing. I will make these thumbnails and if you want to see an enlargement just click on the photo. These are only a few items that I love the smaller ones are on the shelf and I didn’t want to take a 100 pictures, but there are medals, buckles, pins, Vietnam lighters and of course lots of Harley memorabilia mixed in.
The first picture is his memory wall, second is the hand painted Vietnam velvet plaque that says how much he missed Judy, third is the hand painted velvet scroll In Memory Of Vietnam, fourth is the doll he sent his wife and fifth is the throw pillow from Japan. These are only a few that I think are special.
Well, I guess you’re tired of admiring my scooter so I’ll post something to push it down. Bill is going to Ohio tomorrow morning to visit his family and I’m staying home to take care of things here. With the cost of gas I’m sure there will be less travel this year as reported. We were both going to go, but then I would have to find a house and animal sitter.
We figured up the cost for gas to go there and back and it was ridiculous because I think we only get between 11 to 18 miles per gallon with the jeep. I think we need a huge tune up and since Bills’ daughter and family are going this weekend and we were going next weekend for his brothers’ 50th wedding anniversary, we decided to change our plans and he will still get to see everyone and only pay half the gas, but he’ll miss the festivities next week.
I am not huge on family gatherings because I come from a dysfunctional family unit and there was always some kind of trouble that would arise when we all got together. Bills’ family isn’t like mine of course and we had fun when we went to his family reunion a few years back, but it was much more fun when we went back to our hotel and walked up and got White Castles.
We love those little burgers and growing up in Chattanooga we had Krystals which were the same thing. Everyone hung out at the local Krystal because it was open all night and when the bars would close the place always got packed with a bunch of hungry drunks. I told Bill that he has to bring me some White Castles back. You can buy them frozen in the grocery store, but they just don’t taste the same.
Bill was talking about riding his bike down, but I talked him out of that idea because I don’t want him riding alone and that’s a pretty rough ride straight through and I’d be worried sick. Some time this year we are going to pick a half way point between here and Ohio and ride the Bike to meet up with his sister and brother-in-law which happens to be his closest friend and that will be fun.
Since your tired of my scooter I’ll show you Bill’s, click for a larger view.
