When I think of New Hampshire, I don’t think of wagons and teams,
I think of mountains, snow, and cold running streams.
But a man from there with a with a dream in his heart,
Built a Wagon RV pulled by a team and across country he’d start.
Bob is the adventuresome type always following his dreams,
Tis no wonder he put is faith in the people and his draft horse team.
He started his journey with no destination in mind,
Just traveling around, with his four horses and poodle Clementine.
He touched many lives state after state and mile after mile,
He enjoyed life and met every person with a great big smile.
Bob traveled many miles day after day
He made friends everywhere along the way,
With just a few minutes or overnight in each new town,
Word spread and people would come for miles around.
To say “hi” or talk about his adventures and dreams,
Or bring the kids to see his wonderful team.
People who never met Bob, but heard of his amazing journey from
friends or TV,
Followed his travels and saying to themselves, I wish that was me.
Posting events on the Internet to catalog his travels for all to read,
And he loved the responses from everyone admiring the life he leads.
Bob loves life and lives each day like it could be his last,
He looks to the future and doesn’t dwell on the past.
Little did Bob know his journey would pause on a Mississippi Road,
And he’d be burdened with such a heavy load.
But his burden is temporary on his journey through this land,
Because God is holding him in the palm of his hand.
GOD spared BOB DOC JOYCE and his poodle CLEMENTINE for
them to go on,
And took DOLLIE and DEEDEE to pull his chariot and call them his
own.
Bob wasn’t promoting a cause nor on any type of mission,
“Just enjoying life” is his position.
They say out of every bad thing something good comes out if it,
I believe lots of good things will spring from a man like this.
Bob said this journey he got a do-over to start anew,
This is what we all wish we could do.
We know you’re not a quitter and will get another “do-over” my
friend,
Hang in there and get well soon, we’re all are waiting to help you to
hit the road again.
By Al Cade
2-14-09

This poem was written by a gentleman who was the first on sight for Bob's accident. This gentleman also buried Dollie & Dee Dee on his property to make sure they had a proper burial. The love and support that Bob has received through this is incredible. Bob's mom said that Bob was able to get out of bed on his own and go to the bathroom. Every day occurence for most of us but considering how many bones he has broken, this is HUGE for Bob!!! And after seeing the picture of what was left of Bob's RV at the crash site, I know with no uncertainty that there is a God and that He wasn't ready for Bob yet.

Later today, I get to attend the memorial service for my Aunt Connie who was also my Godmother. Ed wanted to know why I would even want to do such a thing. I told him that it isn't even so much to say goodbye to Aunt Connie. I already did that when she was alive. It's to see family members that I very rarely get to see. In our family, funerals are also like reunions. You never know what's going to happen and it may be an opportunity to see everyone one last time. You could be driving along in your homemade RV and horse team and then you could be gone. Life's short. Make it count.

I'm back. I did a whole lot of nothing this weekend. Well, I can't say that. I made it back to Stagecoach West with my BFF of over 30 years. Brunna and I have been friends since we were 12 years old. Kind of cool to still have a friend after everything life has thrown at us. Someday, I have a feeling that it will be down to a bunch of us wrinkly old ladies with our menagerie of animals sharing a house and barn and playing the "remember when" game. And I'm sure one of us won't remember any of it. There will only be fix it men around because we either chased all the other men off or we outlived them. So I traded the girth in for the biggest western girth they make without heading into the draft division and it is still too small for my big ox but it's better than the last one.

When I did log onto the computer this weekend, I checked on Bob's progress and the e-mails from his mother say the same thing. He's holding on. He's in good spirits considering all the broken bones and head trauma but he's healing. He has a very long road ahead of him. The horses are doing very well considering what they went through. And Bob's dog is missing him terribly but she's okay too. I read through 9 or 10 PAGES of well wishers that have either met him on the road, known him for a long time or just read about what happened on the news. I think this is awesome!!! The power of the internet!! You wouldn't DARE not get better with all the prayers on this thing.

On the Austrailian blog that I read, I posted about the Clydesdale that was untouched by the fire's. He has been rescued and moved to a field where there is green grass and a white horse for him to be a buddy with. Keith found the horse and who rescued it on a message board and was sent pictures. The big guy seems pretty happy with his new homestead. Go figure, right? Yeah Clyde!!!

My miniature horse Chip walked under the ropes again today. My fear is that mutiny is ahoof. If the other mini's figure out what he's doing, they will follow. The little snot walks right over, shoves his head under the bottom rope and WaLa! He's out! Then he stands there looking at me as if to say "yeah, what you gonna do about it?" I've got news for you, you 35 inch monster, I will figure out something! If you'd like, I will put the fence tape back up and charge it. Then go ahead and stick your silly head on it to push it out of the way, I dare you!! This is painful, I should know as I walked into it once when being too lazy to take the top wire down. Yep, turned around to walk out of the gate and ZAP!!! Right in the forehead. Might explain all the brain damage.

I'm at work and taking care of all kinds of problems due to the storms around here. I work at our local utility company at night in the computer room. You name it and it goes wrong when the wind blows, it snows, rains, fogs or someone sneezes on some fiber optics in another state. We blame a lot of our problems on chipmunks and the wires. Things happen around here that never get a definitive resolution. It's just the way it is with the computer world. I'm making phone calls and receiving phone calls and my co worker is muttering about "how do they know how many people died?" And then she proceeds to say something about a big flea market type sale that goes on there. I ask "where?" and she replies "Clarence Center". I continue fixing problems in Perry and Hornell and happen to glance up at my newscast that I usually keep up for the weather radar and see that a plane has crashed in Clarence Center and that 49 people have perished. On a good day, Clarence Center is probably a little over an hour away from here. I have to pass through there this weekend to go to Stagecoach West. It's probably the only real tack shop around here that sells everything for your horsie needs. Back to the plane, I hope and pray that there isn't anyone that I know on that plane. And I hope and pray that no one suffered on that plane or whomever was hurt on the ground. My prayers are with all the families/friends of the victims of this disaster.

I don't fly. I don't like it. I have done it a number of times and I have never had any good luck with it. My first flight was to New York City and the flight there was fine. On the way back, we hit turbulence that was so bad it actually bumped us out of our seats. I went to Texas and the flight there was uneventful. On the way back, we had turbulence but not as much as when I got to the airport to find that my fiance' didn't show up to get me. He couldn't because his new girlfriend wouldn't let him. Good riddance to bad rubbish. The very last time I flew was for work. I didn't have a very good feeling about this as the day I was flying we had 60 mile an hour winds and the wings on the airplane kept tipping as I was trying to board it. It was a little prop job and my seat was in the very back of the plane and it was in the middle of the aisle. The very last seat was a bench seat and I was stuck in the middle of it. The stewardess was serving drinks and we were in so much turbulence that she never got to serve the back half of the plane before the pilot made her belt herself in. We were going to Philadelphia and I was so violently ill by the time that we got there that I almost rented a car to get back home. The gentleman that I was traveling with to the site told me that he had never been on a worse flight. I told him of course, I was on that plane. Fortunately, the way home was uneventful. But I hate flying and I avoid it at all costs.

Now back to the stagecoach trip. I went 2 weeks ago to purchase a girth for a Wintec endurance saddle. It needs a western girth and my horse measured for a 35 inch girth. Of course, they sell them in even number increments so I hmmm'd and hawwed to figure if I should get a 34 or 36 to fit this ox. I asked the horsie people around me and they all said to go with the 34 inch. Guess what? My horse looks like a fat guy in a little coat. I have to go back for the 36 and wish they made them in 38's. I guess I didn't realize how big he is. He's not fat, he's solid. But seeing as I wasn't putting the horses out in the wind and rain today, I hung out with them in the barn this morning and they seemed to enjoy having me there. So I tried to de-mung some of them and I played around with some tack and just enjoyed the crunching and munching of my beloved animals enjoying their breakfast.

On another note, the bloke from horstralia posted on his blog today that a bunch of folks all set out with horse trailers to see if there were any horse survivors in Victoria and they walked into the burnt out brush and came back with about 15 horses!!! All alive and happy to be found!!! A little singed but nothing compared to what was around them. Have I mentioned that the horse is God's favorite animal? The horse is mentioned more times in the bible than any other animal. Have I mentioned that the word bible means "Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth"?

Have I mentioned that I have to get back to work? Ciao

Every day, I check out a few sites and blogs that I love to read. This evening, a story showed up on thehorse.com about a man from New Hampshire who decided to take a trek across the country with his horses. He had 2 percherons, bought 2 more for the trip and made his own wagon/trailer that he made to resemble a modern day gypsy wagon. He retired from a nuclear power plant, sold his little farm and has been on the road since July/August. Yesterday, while driving down the road in this camper the horses were hauling, he was hit from behind by an 18 wheeler and 2 of the horses were killed on impact, the other two are fighting for their lives at a local veterinarians office and he is in the hospital. The article said that he does not have life threatening injuries. His blog said that he wanted to see what America had to offer. I'm pretty sure he wasn't expecting this. I was a school bus driver for over 7 years. I had the privilege of knowing the HUGE responsibility that commercial drivers have on our roads. The road that Bob was traveling on was clear and he was not in the middle of it. They don't know why the truck driver hit him but it is definitely the drivers fault. It always is. Sometimes people forget that driving on our roads is a privilege and a huge responsibility. We were taught in our training that it is our job to SEE everything! Period. And everything and anything that happens is our fault. We are trained to know better. What a shame for Bob that this particular truck driver didn't take his job seriously. Here's his blog site if you'd like to see it. For obvious reasons, there are no recent updates. http://www.wagonteamster.com/

Another blog that I read is from a man in Australia or Horsetrailia as his peeps call it. He's also a volunteer firefighter and photographer and has been fighting the fires set in Australia. He's been keeping us updated with pictures and letting us know that he's okay. There was one picture that haunted me all day while I was trying to sleep. It was of a burnt out pasture and fences. Everything in the picture was burnt. Except for a small patch of green grass. And standing in the middle of this patch of grass was a beautiful Clydesdale. All by himself. The picture was not very close up but the horse still had his tail and the wind was blowing his mane. Why? Everything around him was lost. He seemed untouched. It was like God said "No, not him." They don't know if the horses family made it out of the fire as all they found was ashes where the house was but he's still there. They were sending a rescue out to pick him up. Think about it. All the smoke, heat and the sheer terror this animal went through and he's still here. I don't get it.

I found a saying on a blog post that I follow proudly. The Windchill Forum. If anyone wants to laugh and cry all in the same read, I suggest this forum. Just punch it into google and it'll find you. If not, here it is: www.windchillforum.org/ I thought I would post the saying here so that maybe it will help me make sense of the junk that's going on in the world. "Snowflakes are one of natures most fragile things, but just look what they can do when they stick together" Vista M Kelly

We're all in this together!! Let's take care of each other.

So this morning I went to take care of the horses and my black and white mini Chip decided to sneak under the ropes that I put up to make my life easier and wander down the laneway. Oh Horse Crap was what I said! Or something kind of similar. So Chip wanders down the laneway and gets himself some grass and then decides to turn around and run back, duck under the rope, keeps going and ducks under the other rope and out into the front of the barn. Then he heads over to the old garages and to the other side of the big horses paddock. I believe he stuck his tongue out and said "na na na na boo boo" to the other horses. He came back as I was walking out of the barn with the grain bucket, ducked under the ropes and stood at the gate as if to say "okay I'm done now, put me back". So I did. My sisters mini Bill did this last week to us. Bill decided to walk under the electric wire (no I didn't have the fencer on so it was my fault) and headed down the laneway. It was dark out and he came running up the laneway to Ed who was getting ready to fill his drawers. He thought it was a bear. Bill ran past him and ran over to the gates and waited there until I came out and brought him into his bedroom in the barn. I believe we have a few cases of premature spring fever. Sometimes I think I'd be better off raising Hermit Crabs. But I'd probably get one of those things to misbehave also.

So then I was driving home and noticed that the Dodge dealer had a brand new truck in the lot that is set up just like I like them. I appreciate a truck. Just a truck. Not an extended passenger vehicle that you can't park to save your life. Regular cab, 8 foot bed, I'm happy. This truck was 4 wheel drive which I don't need but would like sometimes. It was in my favorite color dark blue. It was a 3/4 ton with the 5.7 Hemi engine (smaller than the engine I have in my truck now). It was a piece of junk. They wanted 38,000 dollars and there wasn't even any carpet in the thing. The seats were plastic/vinyl and the underneath of the truck was already rusted out. You couldn't miss it because I almost couldn't get in the thing it was so tall. Of course it didn't help that I had my winter barn boots on and they slipped on the plastic floor and I almost went ass over tea kettle out of the truck. So I sat in it for 30 seconds, jumped out and left some manure on the floor as kind of a calling card or a review of the 2009 pickup trucks. I can't imagine how much one with carpeting would cost. Geez. I'll keep my old truck. Maybe I'll just wash it.

Okay, so I have to post some things because no one ever believes the stuff that I put up with. First of all, Bill Engvall said it perfect. I hate stupid people. Now, I think "hate" is a little tough but stupid people should definitely wear a sign. Then I could just avoid them altogether. I went to Wegmans yesterday and bought 3 of the eco-friendly (well not really, they're not naturally made and they are dyed) bags instead of using all those plastic bags. I will be the first to say that these plastic bags are wonderful for lining little trash cans and tying to the end of a carrot stick to wiggle and get the horses out of the barn. It works so well that I just have to pick up the stick and they run out of the barn. Another story for another day. I was at the cash register and placed the bags on the "register escalator" for lack of a better word. The cashier rang them up and then set them behind her. She then proceeded to place all my groceries in the plastic bags. I decided to see how stupid this person was willing to be. She went to put the groceries in my cart and said "Oh, did you want to use these bags?" Of course, my response was "No, I bought them to ride around in my truck with me". She said "Oh, okay. Do you want them in a plastic bag?" I actually stopped and stared at her for a good 5 seconds before responding "that kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it?" She kind of laughed and put the bags on top of my groceries where I transferred them to my truck and have been riding around with them.

I like to buy organic fruits and vegetables any chance I get. You can taste the difference and I don't care what anyone says about it. I will argue with anyone about this issue. I cannot even open up a bag of regular salad let alone eat it. The chemical smell on that stuff is horrible. And every time I eat it, my legs swell up. You can't tell me there's not something wrong with this. So I was pleasantly surprised when I found organic Granny Smith apples at Tops this week. And then you can imagine my disappointment when I went to eat one, only to find out that some stupid person slathered these apples with some kind of wax. Can't get it off the apple so that I can eat it and really didn't you just defeat the purpose of the "organic"? I have been arguing with my Wegmans produce people because I feel that the organic veggies should not be butted up against the chemical sprayed vegetables but I can't get through to them either.

Okay, I feel better now but I'm sure I'll find something else to vent about later.