Here’s a look back on 2011, a really great year for my family and me. Bubba started a new job a year ago and every day we’re thankful that he has a job he enjoys. This year I got to go to Houston with my mom and my cousin to watch our VCU Rams play in the Final Four. My daughter graduated high school, started college (go Rams!), got a job, and is really making a wonderful life of her own.

I traveled to San Francisco and Arizona for work and writing and visiting. Home is definitely here in Richmond with our family and friends. Home is wherever and whenever I’m with my West Coast family, too. I also spent some great days with Judith and dear friends in Oak Island, NC.

Bubba and I worked lots of good hours in our garden and good hours planning our garden for 2012. After three years of cultivating a purple leaf coneflower border, we’re about there. Now for the Baptisia! Oh, and also, I want a Lewis and Clark garden. I’m not sure how this will work out. Maybe I’ll fill our entire garden space with plants introduced by the Corps of Discovery.

2011 was a really awesome writing year. I finally realized that I love the research and reflection every bit as much as the creating and editing. I finished up my manuscript for a new book that will come out in 2012 called Come August, Come Freedom about the blacksmith, Gabriel. More than any other, this book changed who I am and who I hope to be. I also wrote my first short story since 5th grade – about the river, of course. And visited so many schools! One highlight was participating in Longwood University’s Summer Literacy Institute, where I met some great writers and lots of inspiring librarians. Oh, and in the fall, reading with some rockin’ amazing women at artist Susan Singer’s Beyond Barbie series. And writing with middle school students at Carver and Midlo, mmmm-mmmm, mighty fun!

Last year I enjoyed writing retreats at Richmond Hill with poet, Cheryl Pallant and at The Porches, with good friends. Two enchanting spaces conducive to creating and quieting. When I couldn’t get away, writing with Valley Haggard was its own mini weekly writing retreat.

We moved our horses to Campbell Springs Farm, like, a day before Hurricane Irene! Albert and Latte have settled in nicely. We found a silver lining of living without power for nine days post-Irene: evenings of ice cream and conversation with Bubba’s parents, a tradition we’ll continue until McDonald’s stops selling $1 caramel sundaes.

There wasn’t anything wildly spectacular about 2011 except for everything about it. All the regular, every day moments that make life good: fixing tacos with my goddaughter, working cows with three handsome men, sharing meals and manuscripts with my beautiful friends, looking for bufflehead and bald eagle on the river, watching a cicada molt, cooking with Judith and Bub, revising and revising with my dog and a fire, taking our sweet nephew to his first bball game. And even on days of sorrow or uncertainty, smelling Grammy’s roses or my Winter Daphne and remembering Shelley. If Winter’s here, can spring be far behind?

My plan for 2012? More.

My plan for 2012

What a joy to spend a few hours with them! I left Bettie Weaver feeling so thankful that my life offers opportunities to talk with young readers and writers and very thankful, too, for the passionate educators and librarians I met that day. Here are a few of the drawings the students made of scenes from Chancey:

All of the pictures from the classes were awesome! The best part, though, was reading their notes to me:

That was my favorite book that my teacher has ever read to us. The most tearful part in the story was when Trevor was sent home.

I didn’t know you were coming today. I thought you would come on the first day after Thanksgiving break. I really liked this book and hope you did too.

I love your book Chancey. I think it’s kind of funny.

Thank you for sharing your ideas with us fourth graders. Your book was painting wonderful, detailed pictures in everyones mind. I was surprised and impressed at the same time.

Your book CHANCEY OF THE MAURY RIVER was spectacular.

Thank you for coming. You taught me lots of things about characters and how to write a story about anything.

I’m still so sad about Trevor. I loved your book.

Now, if I ever write a book I know what to do.

Chancey is a majestic pony and loves people. He’s not a mean pony.

I love to ride to and I have a white horse named Buddy. I like to ride him but sometimes he will get bossy.

I think the mountains are very cool.

I love to write!

My favorite part is when Trevor passed the boy and his fat pony.

I love the blue ridge mountains too!

I have one question wich is how long did it take to write the book?

I wanted Mrs. Payne to read two chapters a day.

My dream also is to write a wonderful book just like you. I love to ride horses.

Our class was intrigued by the part where Claire fell off Chancey.

Is your real horse’s name Chancey?

I wanted to cry when Claire got hurt. I hope you continue writing the great books you do. Ya boy ya!

Barn 4 at TRF

Last Friday morning, I spent an hour or so out at the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation at James River. The drive from Richmond to Goochland is always uplifting and especially so on a crisp, cool autumn morning. Mary Martin, TRF Board member, and I got out to Barn 4 in the middle of Dr. Reid McLellan’s lecture about hay quality – I might do a post on that later, because I learned A LOT.

One thing I’m figuring out about Dr. Reid’s lectures: hang on for the ride and pay attention because all of his talks are full of stories and anecdotes and nuggets of wisdom. Sometimes directly on the topic and sometimes not, but always worth keeping your listening-ears open.

It seems like almost every lecture somehow or another comes back to the survival instinct of horses, whether he’s talking about grazing or grooming or training or hay bales. Friday’s lecture turned an interesting corner and I perked up when Dr. Reid said, “Everybody knows you don’t smoke in a barn except exercise riders and old grooms. No smoking in the barn!”

Unfortunately, every barn needs a fire safety plan because every barn is at-risk of fire whether folks are smoking or not. Dr. Reid explained further that a horse’s survival instinct in the wild will cause him to run through a fire not away from a fire because he knows he can’t out run it, she knows the best chance of getting away from the fire is through it in the opposite direction of the burn path. He also said that what we’ve done is tamper with a horse’s natural habitat and instinct by putting them in barns. We teach them that the barn is the safe place, where they’ll find harmony, so even in a fire or dangerous situation that instinct will drive them into the barn. “Horses are looking for harmony. If their most harmonious experience is the stall, that’s where they want to be,” said Dr. Reid.

Dr. Reid and Groom Elite students restoring harmony with Happy

Whether you have a private barn of your own, you’re a boarder, or you run a big facility, it’s a good idea to ask yourself the question Dr. Reid asks trainers all over the country:
When is the last time you had a safety meeting?

I realized as he was talking about fire safety that I don’t actually know where the fire extinguisher is at the barn where we board Albert and Latte. I have two ideas of where to look; the next time I’m out there, I need to make sure I put my eyeballs on it. But the first thing I’ll do if, God-forbid it, I ever encounter a barn fire: GET HELP. CALL THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.

To help you plan for fire safety, check out these articles and fact sheets:

Penn State Cooperative Extension, Fire Safety in Horse Stables

Horse Stable Fire Prevention and Preparation Tips, Santa Cruz County Equine Evacuation Unit

Protect Your Horses From Fire University of Minnesota

Disaster Planning Barn Safety

If you’re not familiar with TRF at James River, I posted about the program here.

TRF at James River