Milliron Monday: Journey to Fernwood 3 29 21

Abbott "Pete" Smith D.V.M.

June 16, 1938 - February 22, 2010

Welcome to Milliron Monday where every Monday we celebrate the legacy of Pete Smith, D.V.M., and  Milliron: Abbott “Pete” Smith, D.V.M. The Biography (Monday Creek Publishing 2017). A graduate of Colorado State University and a well-known veterinarian in southeast Ohio, Dr. Smith continues to motivate and inspire. 

It's always a fun day when I get to hang out with Jody Smith. Last Thursday, we traveled to Fernwood Farm, the home of fine artist Kelly Lincoln. Also known as The Pig Patch, Fernwood Farm is home to a menagerie; chickens, sheep, pigs (mostly), one cat, one dog, and lots of creativity. Jody and I traveled State Route 550 - a scenic route of Amish buggies (although we didn't see any), Spring forsythia and daffodils, farmers tilling their fields, and rolling SE Ohio countryside.

Arriving to Fernwood, we were greeted by the mixed blue-tick hound, Cookie and his feline companion. Sheila and Darla, the Fernwood sheep, were happy to receive visitors. The sound of "oinks" quickly got our attention and we caught up on all the pig-happenings - new pigs, our favorite pig (George), old pigs, curly pig (Jane), momma pig (Sally who is pregnant), and all the mini-pigs. 

George is so much fun. He is my penpal (well, not really, that would be Kelly). George sends me all kinds of cool mail. So cool that Kelly and I have collaborated for a new book Mail from Fernwood (tentative title), where George is the spotlight. Visit our Pinterest page to read some of George's handiwork. We are excited about this project and hope you will be, too! 

After we visited with all the animals, we ate lunch at The Galley, a super spot for lunch and conversation (they have great coffee). Back to Fernwood, we thanked our gracious host, said our goodbyes and headed for home.

Jody and I talked about the many times she traveled State Route 550 to help Pete with veterinarian errands. She described how the windy road could be treacherous in the wintertime. We reminisced about Pete and the many stories that make up Milliron. 

Sometimes there are no words to explain the comfort of good friends. I look forward to seeing Jody again and making the journey to Fernwood.

Have a great week ahead.

Connect with Gina...

Amazon Author Page

Milliron: The Biography

www.gmcknight.com

www.mondaycreekpublishing.com

Through captivating, powerful, and emotional anecdotes, we celebrate the life of Dr. Abbott P. Smith. His biography takes the reader from smiles to laughter to empathy and tears. Dr. Smith gave us compelling lessons learned from animals; the role animals play in the human condition, the joy of loving an animal, and the awe of their spirituality. A tender and profound look into the life of a skilled veterinarian.

Letters from Larry: Palm Sunday

 

Good Sunday Afternoon Everyone:

Today is Palm Sunday as well as the Beginning of the Jewish celebration of Passover. Palm Sunday is the Sunday before Easter that begins the Christian Holy Week. It is the day that we remember and celebrate the day Jesus entered into Jerusalem as Savior and King. As Jesus rode a donkey into the town of Jerusalem a large crowd gathered and laid palm branches and their cloaks across the road, giving Jesus royal treatment.

The hundreds of people shouted "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"

Palm Sunday is a moveable holiday meaning its date changes each year based on Lent and the spring equinox. Many churches celebrate Palm Sunday with the waving of palm branches, singing traditional hymns, and making crosses out of palm fronds. But while this is a triumphal entry, it is Jesus’ first step toward His death.

Palm Sunday Fast Facts

·         Palm Sunday marks the beginning of the Holy Week and celebrates

·         Jesus as the Messiah

·         the Biblical account of Palm Sunday is found in all four Gospels:

·         Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-44, John 12:12-19

Passover

The original Passover, found in the Bible, is a memorial to God passing over the houses of the children of Israel when He killed the firstborn of man and beast in Egypt. This miraculous event and its meaning occurred during the night of the fourteenth of the Hebrew month Nisan.

On that night I will go through the land of Egypt, killing every first-born male, both human and animal, and punishing all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood on the doorposts will be a sign to mark the houses in which you live. When I see the blood, I will PASS OVER (from where we get the term Passover) you . .. (Exodus 12)

The Bible meaning of the Passover, for the New Testament Christian, revolves around the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It is a memorial of his death as the true Lamb of God. Believers partake of unleavened bread and wine in remembrance of the sacrifice of Jesus' beaten body and shed blood. This sacrifice makes possible the forgiveness of our sins.

Passover lasts for a week just like the Christian Holy Week.

5 Things about Palm Sunday that Remind Us

Christ is King

1. God's Word tells us the people cut palm branches and waved them in the air, laid them out on the ground before Jesus as He rode into the city.

The palm branch represented goodness and victory and was symbolic of the final victory He would soon fulfill over death. “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 1 Cor. 15:55

2. Jesus chose to ride in on a donkey, which directly fulfilled Old Testament prophecy of Zech. 9:9. In Biblical times, it was common for kings or important people to arrive by a procession riding on donkey. The donkey symbolized peace, so those who chose to ride them showed that they came with peaceful intentions. Jesus even then reminded us that He is the Prince of Peace.

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." Zech. 9:9

3. When the people shouted "Hosanna!" they were hailing Christ as King. That word actually means "save now," and though in their own minds they waited for an earthly king, God had a different way in mind of bringing true salvation to all who would trust in Him.

"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!"Ps. 118:26 "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Rom. 10:9

4. The Bible says that Jesus wept for Jerusalem. In the midst of the praise of the moment, He knew in His heart that it wouldn't be long that these same people would turn their backs on Him, betray Him, and crucify Him. His heart broke with the reality of how much they needed a Savior.

"As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it, and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace--but now it is hidden from your eyes." Luke 19:41-42

5. Palm Sunday reminds us that the reign of Christ is far greater than any the mind of man could ever conceive or plan. Man looked for someone to fight their battles in the present day world. Yet God had the ultimate plan of sending His Son to fight the final battle over death. This is the greatness of why we celebrate this week. Because of Christ's ultimate sacrifice, we can be set free of death.

"Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,'  John 11:25

We have so much to be grateful for this week. The enemy knows that, and you can bet, he's going to do everything he can to try and distract us away from the true meaning of what this Holy Week means. Don't let him win.

In this Holy Week, may God direct our thoughts and attention towards what matters most, Jesus Christ our King...

Let's choose to focus on worshipping our Lord, thanking Him for the gift of His sacrifice, celebrating the power of the Resurrection, and the new life found in Him alone. Grace. "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" 2 Cor. 9:15

Palm Sunday Scriptures

Zechariah 9:9 - Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

John 12:12-19 - The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna! ”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Blessed is the king of Israel!”

Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”

Luke 19:11-44 - “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ”

Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They replied, “The Lord needs it.”

They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:  

“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

May God Bless YOU and YOURS!

Much love and Shalom to Our Jewish readers as you begin Passover.

Larry

 

NOTE: This letter is sent to anyone interested in receiving these inspirational notes. There is no charge and you are encouraged to forward these to anyone you think would benefit from reading them. If you would like to receive them direct, just send an email to me at larryperry@att.net and request to be added to the Letters from Larry list.  

The Boots by J.A. Hall

 

I found them sitting quietly on a shelf in a secondhand store. They weren’t brand new, but were slightly used. Their color was somewhere between a dark tan and a light brown. They were made of brushed suede, had a short square wooden heal, and the toes were squared, not pointed like most cowboy boots. They had leather straps that crossed over both sides with a round, brass ring. The bottom of the heels had a small metal plate on them that made a clicking sound on the pavement.

I was 12 years old that summer. My mother and I were living on our own and money was always tight. It was county fair time and I was going to show my horse for the very first time. I was in 4-H and our advisors worked with use very morning to get us prepared for the upcoming show. We would wash and groom our horses, clean, and polish our saddles, and get our show outfits together. My mother had put an outfit together for me out of some of her old things. It looked really nice, but the only thing I still needed was a pair of cowboy boots. It seemed like all the other kids had boots as a matter of course, but I had always made do with my old tennis shoes. I knew that we couldn’t afford to buy me a new pair of boots just for this one horse show. My mother had suggested that I might borrow a pair of boots from someone who might have an extra pair. It was probably a good suggestion, but I was too embarrassed to ask anyone. I would just have to try and figure out something on my own.

The day before the horse show my mother showed up at the fairgrounds during her lunch hour. She told me that a lady she worked with had told her about a secondhand clothing store in Chauncey that might have a pair of used boots at a reasonable price. We went to the store and looked around, but we weren’t having much luck. We were about to leave when I saw them sitting alone on a shelf. I took them down and tried them on. They fit me as if they were made for me. Mother asked the clerk how much he wanted for the boots. He said they were $15.00. Mother didn’t say anything, but I knew $15.00 was a great deal of money to us. She told the clerk that she would have to think about it and that we would come back later. We left the store and headed back to the fairgrounds. In those few brief moments I had gone from sheer joy in finding the boots, to complete emptiness in losing them. I still didn’t know what I was going to do about boots for the horse show. I was running out of time. Mother told me to say a little prayer and not to worry because God answered prayers. I went back to the barn and started brushing my horse and tried to forget about it.

The day of the horse show started out beautifully. The sun was bright and the sky was clear. You could feel the excitement in the air as kids were preparing for the show. Everyone was in his/her best show outfits. I was just about to get into mine when I saw my mother’s car come flying into the fairgrounds with her horn blowing and her arm waving for me to come over to the car. I ran over to the car and sitting next to my mother on the front seat were the boots! I was frozen with shock and I couldn’t hear or say anything. Mother handed me the boots through the open car window and gently said, “Go get them, Netty!” I gave her the biggest hug that was ever given to any mother before and raced back to the barn with my new boots. I put them on and felt like a million dollars. God had answered a prayer, but since I hadn’t been the one that said one, it must have been my mother.

It has been a long time since that summer. We had some great times that summer, just mother and me. I still remember those boots and the joy they brought. After I outgrew the boots, I gave them to a young girl who didn’t have a pair. I hope they brought her as much enjoyment as they did to me.

Connect with J.A. Hall

facebook – Little Meadow Farm

 

J.A. Hall is the author of the new children’s book Bandit Finds a Home (Monday Creek Publishing 2020). Hall grew up in southeastern Ohio riding horses and is the proprietor of Little Meadow Farm. She will be attending the 2021 Ohioana Book Festival in April and will be featured by Ohioana Zoom, April 23, 2021, 11AM. Find the link at Ohioana.org when it becomes available. Connect with Hall on facebook @ Little Meadow Farm.

Milliron Monday: A Letter from Jim 3 22 21

 

Abbott "Pete" Smith D.V.M.

June 16, 1938 - February 22, 2010

Welcome to Milliron Monday where every Monday we celebrate the legacy of Pete Smith, D.V.M., and  Milliron: Abbott “Pete” Smith, D.V.M. The Biography (Monday Creek Publishing 2017). A graduate of Colorado State University and a well-known veterinarian in southeast Ohio, Dr. Smith continues to motivate and inspire. 

There were many letters and sentiments from Pete's memorial service, insights to a life well lived, shared in letters from Pete's siblings - Carol, Janet, Susie, and Jim. 

Jim's letter...

 Age and circumstance kept me from having much of a sibling relationship with Pete. I was only eight years old when our family moved from Denver back to New England. Pete stayed behind, working his way, without parental assistance, through Colorado State University. There he met Jody as an undergraduate and then stayed as a young married man working his way through vet school shoeing horses and working at a dog track.

Before he was married, Pete worked summers at the Bosler ranch north of Laramie. He got paid in Black Angus cattle which multiplied and formed the beginning of his Milliron Land & Cattle Company. The clinic was named after it. A true self-made man. I admired that about Pete.

When I was 13, I was given the opportunity to work on the same ranch. I was a real screw-up compared to Pete. Mr. Bosler made that pretty clear to me!

Later, when Pete moved to Athens, I had the privilege in my early 20s of spending vacation time now and then with the family. I accompanied Pete on his large animal house calls in his veterinary truck with its hot water heated by the exhaust system. I watched Pete do everything from Caesarian section on a cow in some pasture to castrating a horse – I nearly fainted at the horse incident.

I admired Pete tremendously for his independence, his success, his risk-taking, his everything. Despite my limited exposure to him, I can say he was a role model, although I hardly turned out anything like him.

I rarely saw Pete in recent decades, but I always made a point to call him on his birthday, June 16^th. The last time we spoke was on Pete and Jody’s 50^th wedding anniversary last September. Ironically, my only pet is a parrot, and Pete wasn’t trained in that part of the animal kingdom. But many may not know that Pete’s first pet was a crow that he named “Pliny.” That was Pete’s middle name, and he hated it, I’m told, so he gave it to the crow. “Pete” was a nickname, not his middle name. My parrot is named Flower, which tells you how different we are. I’ll miss him. 

Sending love and blessings to Jim today.

Have a great week ahead.

Connect with Gina...

Amazon Author Page

Milliron: The Biography

www.gmcknight.com

www.mondaycreekpublishing.com

Through captivating, powerful, and emotional anecdotes, we celebrate the life of Dr. Abbott P. Smith. His biography takes the reader from smiles to laughter to empathy and tears. Dr. Smith gave us compelling lessons learned from animals; the role animals play in the human condition, the joy of loving an animal, and the awe of their spirituality. A tender and profound look into the life of a skilled veterinarian.

Izza The Poet

 Follow on Instagram @izzapoetry

Follow on Instagram @izzapoetry

Milliron Monday: A Letter from Janet 3 15 21

 

Abbott "Pete" Smith D.V.M.

June 16, 1938 - February 22, 2010

Welcome to Milliron Monday where every Monday we celebrate the legacy of Pete Smith, D.V.M., and  Milliron: Abbott “Pete” Smith, D.V.M. The Biography (Monday Creek Publishing 2017). A graduate of Colorado State University and a well-known veterinarian in southeast Ohio, Dr. Smith continues to motivate and inspire. 

From Pete's memorial service, sister Janet writes fond memories and love for her brother.

Janet's letter...

 Pete is perhaps no longer with us physically but there is something about Pete that makes that not applicable in his case – he was bigger than life and is therefore always going to be with us! I was reminded recently about how that actually works – a neighbor has a dog that has been getting sudden cramps which then disappear – he has trouble walking – wobbles along. They have spared nothing in vet costs to find out what it is. I immediately thought, “Let me call Pete!” Knowing Pete, maybe he’ll figure out a way to answer us from where he is! Let’s hope! We need his animal smarts.

My friend Christine Chauvin who organizes horseback rides around the world had the pleasure of having Pete on one of her rides in Ecuador. I had broken my back and couldn’t go myself and knew Pete would love the experience so he went in my place. Christine thought Pete was a wonderful addition to the ride – a rather unusual group as there were several men on that particular ride. That is not usually the case.

Pete was always a source of laughs, great stories and whenever there were animal problems, he had the solution. On a ride she had in Africa, one of the favorite horses of the organizer had been having serious stomach problems which no vet had been able to help. Christine knew one vet that she could count on – she called Pete. He asked questions, and without hesitation came up with a suggestion. Yogurt with charcoal as I recall (don’t pin me down on that one!), with instructions on how to actually get it down the horse’s throat. Within a short time the horse was fine again. How little sister Janet (he always called me Nanny. From him that was quite ok!) is proud when she hears stories like that. And there are many such stories.

When the opportunity came up for our daughter Anna to come and spend a summer working with Pete, Jody and Jessica doing various chores, I thought “great!” At least Anna will get a chance to spend a summer with this amazing family. Chores with Pat were not included – probably lucky for both Anna and Pat! She’s not a numbers person! It was quite a different experience for her to be working on a farm with all that involves and in a clinic seeing operations and understanding that side of a vet’s work, and without the big city life she is so used to. I was actually envious of her. I have always loved visiting Milliron Farm and having all the animals around me – being a part of Pete’s world.

Pete visited our world when we were living and working in Venezuela. That was a great time for us all. I had long talks with Pete on just about every subject. Pete was well read – he had an amazing frame of reference because of that. He had no trouble finding lots to talk about with people who had never left the city environment!

He seemed to enjoy it all and was always up to learning more! I remember we had a lot of coffee table books in our house. There were some really interesting ones – which most of us just leaf through – checking out the beautiful pictures. Well, with Pete it was a completely different story! He read most of them! I can’t remember how long he was with us – too short as time flew by – but he managed to read many of those books and came with floods of questions about Venezuela’s this or that.

Pete lived his life – some of us just let it flow on. That’s ok but oh how much more Pete must have experienced in his all too short time with us. He wanted to get the most out of his life and he made sure he did just that. He always had the loving support of Jody which was incredibly important to him. She went into overdrive to make sure he got a passport in time for the ride in Ecuador. I am sure that was standard procedure for her and Pete understood and loved this about Jody. That they had their love of animals in common was an important strength in every aspect of their lives.

We will miss Pete but he’s always going to be here with us! After all he was/is bigger than life!

  

Sending love and blessings to Janet today.

Have a great week ahead.

Connect with Gina...

Amazon Author Page

Milliron: The Biography

www.gmcknight.com

www.mondaycreekpublishing.com

Through captivating, powerful, and emotional anecdotes, we celebrate the life of Dr. Abbott P. Smith. His biography takes the reader from smiles to laughter to empathy and tears. Dr. Smith gave us compelling lessons learned from animals; the role animals play in the human condition, the joy of loving an animal, and the awe of their spirituality. A tender and profound look into the life of a skilled veterinarian.