An Archeological Dig
I don’t need to go to Egypt or even the Rockshelter at Meadowcroft to take part in an archeological excavation. I had my own little uncovering of historical relics right here in my own house this weekend.
It started with the new storage space created by the wardrobe from IKEA (scroll down if you missed it). I was going through our vast collection of “stuff” (AKA junk) determining what to toss and what to place on one of the shelves of the new wardrobe and I unearthed my dear old Jenny mare’s AQHA registration papers. Technically, I should have sent them in to AQHA headquarters when she died, but at the time I was distraught and couldn’t bring myself to make her death “official.” Now, eleven years later, it seems somewhat superfluous.
However, holding her papers in my hands once again brought a flood of emotion. Maybe on the heels of losing my Sammie, memories of another time of grief hit me a little harder than they might have otherwise. Jenny was my once-in-a-lifetime horse, the way Sammie was my once-in-a-lifetime kitty. There may be others, but none will completely fill the void of that special one.
Then I once again stumbled across my old show bridle and reins that I HAD to have all those years ago. And I used them MAYBE four or five times. Yet I haven’t been able to part with them any more than I could send in Jenny’s AQHA papers. Possibly because of “the picture.”
Ray shot this photograph shortly after I bought Jenny. I dressed up in my best finery from Lowry’s Western Shop where I used to work and decked Jenny out in my snazzy saddle and that show bridle and reins and let Ray snap away. A few years later, the local newspaper did a profile on me to showcase my budding photography business and chose to run that picture with the story. I remember riding Jenny in a parade a few months later and running into an old friend who said to her daughter, “Look! There’s Jenny.” She explained that they had seen our picture in the paper.
I still have the picture. I still have the bridle and reins. The saddle and Jenny are long gone.
This time when I ran my fingers over the well-oiled leather and studied the out-of-fashion white buckstitching and tarnished silver trim, I decided maybe it’s time to put it to use. So I think the next time I take Admiral for a ride, I’ll use Jenny’s old show bridle on him. Maybe I’ll even get some pictures.
It started with the new storage space created by the wardrobe from IKEA (scroll down if you missed it). I was going through our vast collection of “stuff” (AKA junk) determining what to toss and what to place on one of the shelves of the new wardrobe and I unearthed my dear old Jenny mare’s AQHA registration papers. Technically, I should have sent them in to AQHA headquarters when she died, but at the time I was distraught and couldn’t bring myself to make her death “official.” Now, eleven years later, it seems somewhat superfluous.
However, holding her papers in my hands once again brought a flood of emotion. Maybe on the heels of losing my Sammie, memories of another time of grief hit me a little harder than they might have otherwise. Jenny was my once-in-a-lifetime horse, the way Sammie was my once-in-a-lifetime kitty. There may be others, but none will completely fill the void of that special one.
Then I once again stumbled across my old show bridle and reins that I HAD to have all those years ago. And I used them MAYBE four or five times. Yet I haven’t been able to part with them any more than I could send in Jenny’s AQHA papers. Possibly because of “the picture.”
Ray shot this photograph shortly after I bought Jenny. I dressed up in my best finery from Lowry’s Western Shop where I used to work and decked Jenny out in my snazzy saddle and that show bridle and reins and let Ray snap away. A few years later, the local newspaper did a profile on me to showcase my budding photography business and chose to run that picture with the story. I remember riding Jenny in a parade a few months later and running into an old friend who said to her daughter, “Look! There’s Jenny.” She explained that they had seen our picture in the paper.
I still have the picture. I still have the bridle and reins. The saddle and Jenny are long gone.
This time when I ran my fingers over the well-oiled leather and studied the out-of-fashion white buckstitching and tarnished silver trim, I decided maybe it’s time to put it to use. So I think the next time I take Admiral for a ride, I’ll use Jenny’s old show bridle on him. Maybe I’ll even get some pictures.
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Comments
I think the best part about cleaning house is taking those fun trips down memory lane.