Left in Tucson

The next morning came.  Very early in the morning, Teddy took us up out of the basement and into a big truck.  In no time at all we were all in the truck and it was moving.  We rode for a long time in that truck. "Jake, where do you think Teddy is taking us?" asked Bluebell. "I don't know." I said.  "But, remember, Teddy told us not worry and trust Teddy to tell us the truth." "I sure hope you are right, Jake." Said Dusty.  Shadow was quiet but had a very nervous look in his eyes as he kept peeping through the little window on the side of the truck.  Finally, the truck came to a stop. I smelled something very familiar in the air.  I heard some very familiar sounds, too.  Then, the doors opened, and I couldn't believe my eyes! "Well, here we are!" Teddy said.  "Welcome home!"  There inside a big dark room was our old carousel!  It's lights were gone now.  It was all dark, like the room.  It looked sad and lonely

The next thing I knew the young man was carrying me out the door and down the street.  He brought me home with him.  He took me down into his basement.  There I sat, with all these toys.  There were cowboy hats, and boots, and wagons, too! Then, I saw the picture! It was, Teddy!  Teddy was dressed in his cowboy hat, boots, and leather vest!  He was riding me on the carousel, just like in the old days! The man who had brought me home with him was my old pal, Teddy.  He was Teddy who used to ride with me and Wildfire and Bluebell and all the others.  He was now all grown up.  I felt sad when I looked at that picture.  I no longer had the bright new shiney paint that I had in the picture. Teddy told me, "Don't be sad, Jake, my old friend.  I'm going to take care of you, now." The nexxt day Teddy came home with a surprise.  Teddy brought Dusty down to the basement to join me!  Dusty looked worse than I did.  His brown mane was mostly gone, now.  There were only patche

   When I was a young Pinto Pony on the carousel, there was a little boy who liked to ride me best of all.  Teddy and I would gallop around on the carousel all afternoon, while the waves crashed on the beach and the seagulls screeched above our heads.  We never got tired.  Teddy liked to dress in his cowboy clothes when we would ride together.  Teddy would wear his cowboy hat, boots, and his leather vest, along with his gun and gun holster.  Teddy's gun was a six-shooter with a pearl handle and looked just like the ones real cowboys used, but Teddy's gun didn't shoot real bullets.  We were all very happy on our carousel by the sea, until one day something happened that changed everything.  Wildfire came to us and said, "I heard a man talking to Mr. Peterson about selling our carousel and all of us, too."  "Mr. Peterson told the man that he loved the carousel and would never sell it or all of us ponies, either." Mr. Peterson always made sure all o

On Thursday, July 21, Jim and I took a drive to New Mexico and ended up in Las Cruces , the home of  the White Sands missile testing range.  Since this is monsoon season in the southwest, the drive provided some spectacular views of mountain ranges and puffy clouds back lit by the sun.   I captured the sunset in a video on the return trip to Tucson, AZ. History of Las Cruces

Figaro, my fig tree continues to produce figs. I am harvesting them daily! The bowl in the refrigerator was overflowing with these beauties. Jim is not a fan of figs, and I can't eat them all. They are excellent digestive "regulaters," however, I don't wish to eat so many that I spend the whole day in the bathroom :) I discovered several delicious and easy recipes for preserving my crop of figs. Which I will share here. SPICED FIG PRESERVES http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spiced-Fig-Preserves-15606 FIG JAM http://southernfood.about.com/od/jamsjellies/r/r81018i.htm

Hi! My name is Jake.  I'm a carousel pony.  I'm gong to tell you a story about me and some of my pals, and about our carousel, where we live and play. We were all carved out of wood and painted by hand a long time ago.  We were made by wood-carvers who came to America from far across the sea.  The wood-carvers came to New York City to make carousel ponies for boys and girls to ride.  The wood-carvers were so proud of their skill and so happy to be in a new country.  They wanted the ponies they made to be as proud and happy as they where.  That's why we look so strong and as free and as fast as the wind. These wood-carvers made me, Jake, and all my friends.  I'm what they call a Pinto Pony. That's because of my brown and white spots.  They are like the spots on a pinto bean.  Pinto beans are what cowboys eat when they are out on the range roping cows. Let me tell you about Wildfire.  He is the biggest, strongest carousel pony of us all.  Wildfire is painted wit

#comment-14131 This is an outrageous breach of our national trust. Get involved!

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